By Peter Devonald
Stories hurt stories heal they give us life
or steal it. Monsters creep and crawl slither and slide till they wind up deep inside us. Muttering despair beyond compare.
Our conscious mind
warps and wraps itself
around us
monsters under the bed
whispering despair
"I swear there's nothing under there!"
How little adults understand
the terror and fear at hand.
Monsters hide in the shadows
of our disorientated minds
glimpsed in absent thoughts and dreams
just before we fall apart at the seams.
The power to feel
or make us kneel
to see beauty beyond compare
or live a nightmare.
Magic and wonder are in our hands or memories and monsters and despair. Devils and demons make their demands choose wisely till you understand.
The worst ones aren’t even there
the sneaky sly ones glimpsed in shadows
unspoken sighs in evil eyes
monsters are coming to get you.
Beware!
Peter Devonald is poet in residence at Haus-a-rest, regular columnist for Culture and Arts, and Heart Of The Heatons poetry winner. 50+ poems published / forthcoming in 2022: Artist's Responding to..., ArtLove02, Bolton Breakdown, Dear Politicians: Ecopoetry, Dirigible Balloon, Dwell Time Press, Forget-Me-Not Press, Greenhouse, 6 issues Haus-a-rest, RIVISTA, Sixpence Society, Shallot, Spoonie, Suburban Witchcraft, Substantially Unlimited: Stigma, and Wishbone Words. Five group shows including Tender Stems with PaintingWriting, Chronically Online Culturable Layered Onion. Featured in Poetic Map of Reading and Southwark Festival Of Words. 50+ film awards, former mentor Peter Ustinov Awards (iemmys) and Children’s Bafta nominated. Manchester based, Peter runs monthly 8-word stories for Heaton/Cheadle/Didsbury Post.
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