The Monster in My Mind

I admired the courage of the monster in my mind. It wasn’t afraid to say things. It didn’t care what people thought. Still, it was a vicious beast and I knew I had to slay it.

When the monster was sleeping, people saw the weakness in me. They seized on it, thinking me easy game. But every insult, every morsel of injustice they threw my way made the monster stronger.

The monster is invincible now. I knew I had to slay it but I didn’t.

People say I’ve changed. They say this sadly. But the monster doesn’t care and I don’t either. I am the monster and the monster is me. Together we are unstoppable.

                                              Broken Sand

They say sand cannot break. Its grains are too soft, too light.

But I was sand once, and I broke.

Lightning struck me, I turned to glass, and I shattered.

They put me back together piece by piece. But the shards were jagged and didn’t quite meet. One spike of lightning could shatter me all over again.

Sometimes at night, when the moon is glowing just so, I dream that I am sand once more. I become one with the wind and the water. I understand happiness again.

And when the lightning comes, I hold onto hope.

I remember the truth.

I am not glass.

I am broken sand.

I am broken sand.