Thoughts in the Night

At nights when nightmares wake me

I lay and stare at the ceiling, thinking

Back to the times I went trick-or-treating

And some thoughts they leave me puzzled

To think about ghosts that drift and roam

Lonely souls without a home

Stripped of form, shape, or a grave

Devoid of thought or feeling

To think about monsters that lurk

With scaly skin and sinister smirks

Smell of flesh in foul breath

Behind the shadows, waiting

But what confuses me is trick or treat

Back in the days I was half my size

Those monsters, they'd fall at my feet—

But now my age has built its bars

Life does not fill my bag with sweets

And those monsters, perhaps they’ve left my existence, but
most likely become a part of me.

BY JULIE CHEN