As a child, I endured extreme anxiety

once my adolescent body found itself

incarcerated by the unforgiving

darkness of the night.

 

Every breath increased in weight

heavier and heavier

until complete paralyzation

                                             

 

Chills ran across my skin

Stomach clenching 

chest about to implode

 

 

Warm water falling from my eyes down my cheek.

 

The black of the abode surrounding my presence was my enemy.

And It seemed as if it would always be this way.

 

Now I am older and I can sleep through the night

with my enemy in every corner.

 

A deep and immediate trance as if the darkness

blooming around me had never existed.

 

The shaking subsides and both my mind and my body melt

into relaxation as if this is where I belong.

 

Maybe my fears and anxiety towards the dark were all just

a result of child-like ignorance in which maturity could rid.

 

Maybe I have realized now that I'm older,

that the dark is peaceful.

That the dark might just be relaxing

That the dark is

ultimately a matter of insignificance.

 

Or, maybe once you grow older

and your eyes seem wider

and your thoughts get deeper

and you experience the burden and fear life provides ,

you find yourself engulfed in what you use to fear the most.

 

Because now, darkness is all you can see.