I swear to you
I would have slept
Long ago
If it weren’t for violet
Across the sky
Lightning and the occasional
Rumble of thunder

Disturbs her perhaps
Or the child who most
Reminds me I am
Beautiful

Says
I am afraid of the dark
Along with the cold, unnatural glow
Of the words I write
To stave off
The monsters of memory and loss

I do not tell him
What I have told his older siblings

I have read that no one is afraid of the dark/only what lurks therein

What lurks in our nightmares
What if I lost you?

Every beat of my heart
Asks this question–will you let me keep them?
Knowing they are Yours.

You keep them
for me