As we are children we are afraid of the dark
Things that go bump in the night
The monsters under our bed and in our closets
We're afraid of the boogyman

We are afraid of storms that are very loud
We're scared by scary movies and by the stories
We're scared of certains toys coming alive such as clowns
and some of us are scared of bugs for some reason

my normal childhood fears were nothing like these listed
Many of us yes feared the dark
for darkness made the monsters really come out after us
they made the monsters under the bed look like angels

My boogyman wasn't just a fake person made up to scare me
My boogyman was alive and breathing day in and day out
He was someone i was supposed to trust
My father became my boogyman

The monsters became all to real in many forms of them
His friends and associates
The clients I was pimped to which he knew
They were the group in which he belonged to

The monsters came at night time and during the day
whether i was sick or healthy
whether is was one or more of them
The monsters still came even if i made potions to keep them away

Closets became hiding places for some times
Under the bed became on as well
In the dark outside in a treehouse alone
or even under a porch hidden well by two angels once long a go

The monsters still are here with me even now that i am grown
They haunt my dreams and waking moments in flashbacks
The can not hurt me no more so far
They are only in my mind

i deal with present day monsters still at times
monsters no one wants to deal with or should
They shouldn't no longer scare me but they do
Some monsters you just shouldn't meet

So while most children new the imaginary kind
we knew the real kind
no one dared to tell us monsters weren't really all fake
no one said they could be in family and friends and people you trust

these were our monsters
fathers, mothers, stepparents, foster parents, friends, brothers, sisters, coaches, students, teachers, aunts, uncles, grandparents, strangers, priests, friend's parents, babysitters, family friends, people that we were sold to, people that we were entrusted into their care, cops, lawyers, doctors, nurses, firemans, legal execs, lawyers, judges, and everyone in between..
these were our monsters one's we all knew and thought to trust. Ones we weren't suspicious of,ones who knew they could..

to a normal child these are people
to an abused child these are our tormentors
our silencers
our real monsters come to life

Jayy,

I especially identified with this poem you wrote. I liked it, it was powerful, and it resonated with me, especially the lines,

"these were our monsters..ones who knew they could....
to an abused child these are our tormentors,
OUR SILENCERS
our real monsters come to life."

I respect you as having the brass to stand up and be counted.
G.