Darkness Within

When we are young we externalize the monsters
Because we can't handle the screaming beast within.
We preserve our childish innocence by demonizing an errant piece of clothing draped over a chair.
Little do we realize, the darkness must already be within to be projected out.

As we grow, we learn not to fear the bumps in the night,
The astral projections of our deepest insecurities,
The manifestations of the most frightening piece of our own soul.
Still, we deny the beast that lies within.

Slowly, we start to see it.
It is no longer being forced out, so it grows deeper,
Entwining itself and making roots.
It takes longer to learn not to fear the monster from within.

There is a darkness within us all.
Just a small, tainted piece of soul that can't be escaped,
That can barely be contained,
Bubbling immediately below the surface.

The darkness has not always been bad.
It was us who made it that way.
Trying to run from a part of ourselves,
As if it were a curse.

It is only an unwillingness to understand the darkest parts of ourselves
That makes them so.
Do not run from your demons.
Make them run from you.