I had a monster under my bed.
Like every child I believed in him-
in his deadly endeavors, to be precise;
at night when fireflies sucked the spirit
out of those lamps, he came out.
My mother used to say, he only takes
the ‘naughty’ children with him,
and I had difficulties understanding her words.
The word ‘naughty’ has many meanings,
for different scenarios at least,
but for me then it had a single one_
Fear,
it spills out of the cauldron
of my innocent heart, like milk does
while boiling. And I could see the horrors
on my mother’s face, dimming before me.
Even with my eyes closed, I could tell
it was the same, when she had found out.
Shhhh!
The Monster is coming.
And it comes every night,
when all those fireflies die.
It comes, and stares at you,
to make sure if you are obeying his rule.
Though I thought it was the same for everyone,
I was not sure, if they had an ally-
like my father.
Whenever I was a little curious about the
existence of the monster in my room,
I found myself, searching for his face
from under my blanket.
And I could see him, smiling at me
with the same imposing aura of assurance.
Every night, he comes to defeat the monster
under my bed. And over his lips, an intersecting finger
Rests to remind me of his rule to stay silent.
Now the monster doesn’t come out
from under my bed. He took fear with him,
but left pain for me, with the same Monstrous smile
looming over me, infinitely.