The Monster Under The Bed Poem by Mark Butkus

On the night that bin Laden died
with a bullet in his head
A beeping phone awoke me
from a restless night's sleep
there were two messages

The night was still young
I thought about celebrating
but I smiled and went back to sleep
'A small, cool
gathering my house now'

A shout of joy
from down below
ended my restless night
Jay was awake and had seen the news
A new day was about to unfold

Two hours later
Jay was doing laundry
and I was confirming
my flight back home

An hour after that
and Jay was out for eats
and I was on the beach
with my feet facing
our own private Mecca

The waves
oblivious to the news from Pakistan
continue to crash
against the shores of Mexico

Osama bin Laden
the monster under the bed
no longer has to worry about
restless nights
but we do