Monsters under the bed...

Many young writers use their art to come to terms with growing up. Indeed, all of our Creative Writing students are either juniors or seniors, and their imminently approaching adulthood often leads to reflection on their lives so far. Check out this poem from senior Jocelyn Laviolette:

Monsters//Demons.

when i was younger

i was scared of the Monsters under my bed

i would have someone make sure they weren’t there

i hated these terrible creatures that were like a sudden fog that would surround

i’d have someone look in my closet, under my bed, behind the curtain

i never thought they’d look well enough, but they assured me there were none in sight

i’d eventually fall asleep

i would suddenly wake up feeling great fear

i’d hide under my covers and as i got older and things became more clear

i didn’t like the Monsters. soon they became my Demons and great hate was rooted deep

i had learned that they didn’t like when you fight

over time i put two and two together to make certain

no one else saw them — they were never found

i would look for my Demons everywhere

i just didn’t know the Demons were in my head

while they left me with no power, they just got stronger