In the winter
I like to drink hot chocolate
I used to sit in front of the fireplace
And not move
Until I was scared that my face
Caught fire from the heat
When I was going to bed
My mother would wrap me up
In blankets
And I would form my own little cocoon
I would be safe from the monsters
That linger in the dark
And play over my bed at night
Now, I lie down
As I listen to the whispers of the rain
They faintly scream and cry out
As they fall
In pools where the muddy earth kisses the air
I hear the monsters begging
In the silence of the rain
But I ignore their soft thundering pleas
When I was younger
My mother used to
Bundle me up in blankets
In the winter
But now it is the summer
And even the lightest of blankets
Makes me too hot
I used to use them as a force field
To protect me from the monsters
That hide in the dark
That whisper and scream
Like the leaking rain
And I still bundle up in a blanket
Even though it is 72 degrees
And my forehead is slightly damp
And my pulse quickens
As though I am running through a maze
And time is about to run out
And I cannot see my future
It begins to blur as the time ticks on
And I am afraid of the monsters
Who linger
In this no man's land
But when I am with you
You're the only blanket I need
Your arms are my protection
I ignore their screams
That bounce off and ricochet
In frenzied patterns along my walls
Climbing. Reaching. Grasping
Along those paper flowers painted on
And suddenly I am okay
With laying bare
As my ******* stay hard
And goosebumps kiss my body
Because the monsters cannot touch me
And the screaming whispers of the rain
Cease to antagonize me
I am nineteen and I am still afraid
Of the dark
And my monster within
That tries to claw its way out
So I pray
It's raining in the summer and I am nineteen and I pray
That you are here to stay
With your arms draped around me
So I can finally sleep
And the rain has become
A sweet melody
A gentle symphony
I am nineteen
And because of you
I finally know what it is like
To sleep through the night