There are monsters inside of me

Finding refuge in the emptiness

They hide when you’re around

But at night they haunt me

They tear at every insecurity

Every weakness

They remind me how much I hate myself

How sad I am when I’m alone

They hurt me in ways that another human never could

The monsters know every thought I’ve ever had

Every fear and every nightmare

They use them against me, knowing I can’t fight back

Because monsters don’t care that I am fragile

Monsters don’t care that at any moment I could snap

They don’t realize that if they break me, they can’t haunt me

Monsters can’t haunt someone that’s dead

- C. Burch

Coffee when you know he’s busy

And sweet reminders that you care

for when he has a moment

Love is keeping him in mind

Flowers when life gets her down

And reassuring encouragement

when she feels she’s not doing enough

Love is being her support

Speaking your mind

And giving a listening ear

when disagreements or concerns arise

Love is dedicated communication

No matter the love language

Love is kind and compromising

All I remember is that it was cold

I don’t remember when it happened

Or even where I was

But it was cold

Not the temperature, but rather, inside of me

Inside I felt a cold over whelm me

It was like nothing I had ever felt before

It was pure fear

The fear that monsters and demons feed off of

It was so vivid and surreal

Just black and cold

I couldn’t make a sound

And there was no one out there to hear me

Then, I felt my heart drop

I woke up in a sweat

And from somewhere, in my pitch black room

I could feel something watching me

Not someone, but something

Something dark and evil

That “thing” lives in the darkest corners

So, as a rule of thumb

I fear the dark and that thing living in it

He smelled the way rose petals feel

Yes, I mean feel

So soft and inviting

Like love and butterflies

And other beautiful things

Like comfort and happiness

All despite the thorns not far behind

Which, never made me love him any less

They just symbolized his asshole tendencies

His inability to communicate

His lack of understanding

Even the way he tried to play the victim

All the while tearing me down

But no matter how many times those thorns pricked me

I tried so hard to do better

Like you could somehow care for a thorny rose bush

And expect the thorns to just fall off

But a rose bush will always be thorny

And holding one too tightly, will always make you bleed