My Depression was the Boogeyman
The monster under my bed
The imaginary beasts that
At one time
Could not hurt me
Until I realized
The monster is real
It brings demons from another plane
Haunting my very mind
But they taught me to ignore the Boogeyman
“Pretend it doesn’t exist”
And so I learned to feign ignorance at my father’s side
To fake confidence at my mother’s knee
Pretend, pretend, pretend
Live in this denial
Pretend, pretend
Shrug away the shadow that flickers at my shoulder
Pretend
Lie through my teeth
When they ask, “Are you okay?”
Do not let them know of your stalker
That unwanted presence dogging my every step
…
I cannot pretend
Not anymore
How can I
When the pretending is what brought it in the first place.
~Quill
