Closet Doors

CLOSET DOORS

When I was young,
I kept my closet
Doors shut tight.
When I forgot,
Monsters loomed
In dark of night.

Come morning light
I’d find my coat
Draped on the door
That in night’s gloom
I’d thought crept close,
And whimpers tore

My throat so sore
As fear o’erwhelmed
My fevered sense.
Under blankets
Quaked my soul,
My body tense

With fright. Whence
Such shadows come,
How hence they go,
I slowly learned,
And fear not now
The night’s dark show.

Yet this I know,
Closet doors
May yet afright
The child in me
Who cow'rs within
My mind’s own night.

Shine not, bright light
On heart’s dark place!
Stay shut, heart’s door
Where horrors hide
In wait to take
My inner core

Away. Much more
I fear the things
Behind the fence
I’ve built around
That tender self
I’ve made so dense.

A strong defense
Against what lies
Concealed I know
Can keep my pride,
My life from wreck
And awful woe.