The grown-ups have lied Your pillow fort can't save you because the Boogeyman is real No use jumping under the covers and counting to ten as you wait for the hand to rise up and pull you under the bed The bed is no longer a raft adrift at sea There is no current There is no rescue party Just me And I'm here to tell you that the grown-ups have lied They'll tell you "Sticks and stones may break your bones but words will never hurt you" but they won't tell you that the Boogeyman is real He'll come to your room with words "Nothing" and "******" and "******" and "******" sharpened like arrows in his quiver He'll stretch the bow of upper and lower lip and take aim at your Achilles Heel because he knows how your mother held you as she baptized you in hope "****" doesn't bruise your arm or push you down the stairs or tangle its fingers in your scalp and yank your hair but it'll slump your shoulders make a mumble out of your laughter "Freak" never gave anyone a black eye but it's hung bodies from the rafters The grown-ups don't want you to know that the Boogeyman is real because they're the ones who invented the weapons he wields They don't want you to know that you're defenseless if all you've got is a cold-shoulder shield They don't want to have to tell you that you might have to yield to a monster they created You are both so much like me I can't watch them feed you half-truths and sit here passively You deserve to know what it is that will haunt you What it is that haunts me My bed is not safe either I still check my closets for words I have suppressed The grown-ups check theirs too but they're protecting you They just hide it best See, you and I We bleed crayola because we haven't forgotten what it's like to be a kid We remember popsicles in summertime and all the naughty things we did We remember how to cheat at hide-and-seek and all the corners in which we hid I know that there will be days when the Boogeyman will call you Nothing Just remind him that Nothing is Something that Something could be Anything and therefore you are important. Smile in his face and pretend you cannot hear, cannot understand, cannot be hurt When the arrows take to the air walk so far away and don't stop until your toes are dangling over the edge of the ocean and all that lies beneath you is a tunnel of stars When he finds your Achilles Heel, tell someone No use dying in battle Forgive the grown-ups, for they know not their mistakes Show them how to handle it Sleep with the light on Check your closet Be prepared He will come but if you know your enemy there's no way you can lose
Two of my best friends live on my street. One is six years younger than I, the other eight. Although it's not always cool to hang out with an elementary schooler and her tree-climber sister, they're incredibly kind and insightful. They're not old enough to read this yet, but I wanted to tell them everything I wish someone had told me