there is a monster that sleeps beside me
this nightmare awaits my deepest slumber
haunting since age ten, i have not been free
when do i escape? the light i can't see

there is a monster that sleeps beside me
red glowing eyes and black outsides to match
the screeching claws resonate in my ears
no cage contains this beast, no key, no latch

there is a monster that sleeps beside me
whose relentless cries i cannot defeat
with wings unfurled, i can't sleep, i can't be
this beast won't stop, an unthinkable feat

this monster that sleeps beside me, i alone have set
in simpler terms, an alarm clock, whose match i have not met

haley snodgrass