Thorns

I thought it would never faze me again,thought it would never faze me again,

The fear that lies deep within the lost reaches of my mind,

The fear that once crept into dreams, tinting them black and red,

One I never thought nor hoped to remember.

By day I lost myself to the sight of honeysuckle blossoms and the branches of evergreens,

slowly falling maple leaves and vibrant tulip petals,

I never felt safer, and yet...

I saw them only in dreams.

So intricately were they placed,

In horrifying patterns to lengths I thought weren’t possible,

Making monsters to be all the more threatening,

Or causing them pain, blinding my vision with nothing but images of strife...

...I never spoke of these dreams

because I didn’t understand them...

I had been afraid.

But now I am not.

I’m not afraid.

Not anymore.

……

But I do have to ask...

Why did they haunt my dreams back then?

Why did they reappear again...

and again...

and again...

and again?

It’s natural right?

A common fear?

The fear of danger that lurks within us all?

Why did I think of them again?

Why did it all come back?

I thought I had escaped.

I wasn’t afraid.

I can just forget it all.

I did it then, years ago.

I can do it again

and again...

and again...

and again...

I’m not...

This morning I jolted awake.

Why were they on my mind?