when the lights go out,
i am swallowed by nothingness.
it settles like a blanket over me,
but it is heavy.

the world becomes gaps and blanks.
my mind fills them.
it paints them with my worst fears;
murderers monsters, you.
you come alive in the dark.
you lurk in the corners,
waiting for the moment
i blink.

but the images don’t move.
they are stagnant-
still, yet smothering,
seeping into skin
and squeezing the breath from my chest.

i say im scared of the dark,
but truly,
i fear the corners of my mind.
and what they birth.
when im alone long enough,
to let them speak.