Darkness Ablaze (Prose) Poem by Sameera Alshaikh

I’m not afraid of the dark; I’ve been here many times before.
Curled up in a half empty bed; caressing loneliness. Every night is like any other damn night … Hollow.
I’m not afraid when the walls grow teeth and the shadows suck my blood like a leech. I’m not afraid of the pitch black dark.

Time is slowly ticking away … they wake up! The ghouls, the monsters under the bed, and the beasts inside the closet, they all come out; crawling between my feet, brushing their cold claws through my hair, breathing on my neck (breathing in and breathing out) , scratching my arms, growling and grunting in my ears, and feasting on my tears. The pain may fill me, but I keep smiling in spite all of that; but for how much longer?
Teeth! Like sharp silver knives; Tongues! Feel like a grater on my face. Everywhere I look there’s a devil waiting.
I hear echoes of distant laughter, I’m not afraid! It’s only the ghosts; they’ve flown and left their graves.
Nothing to fear; it’s just creatures in the dark with me swaying to the rhythm of the war drums.
I’m not afraid when the black sky swallows the sun. I’m not afraid when dreams grow fangs and the demons come out casting long shadows upon my pale skin.

I’m in here without anything to numb me, can anybody see me? Can anybody hear me?
I’m a prisoner stuck inside these walls with these THINGS that don’t own anything yet nothing can stop them! …
I’m in here; I’m trying to tell you something … is there hope for me? … But you can’t hear me. Lately I’ve been down because I can’t make you listen to what’s buried deep in my heart; maybe I’m the only one thinking of this mistake.

I’m in here, can anybody make me feel wanted and loved?