Phantoms

Another day
Of words i desperately needed to say
Left unspoken
They lingered in the back of my throat and
burned on the tip of my tongue
Leaving my head feeling numb

The phantoms that haunted me
Hid deep in my sockets and
within the layers of my skin
Re-appearing in only glimpses
When i closed my eyes
often coaxing them
whenever they got the chance

After it all
I needed to fall
Slowly into the comfort of my bed and
into a peaceful sleep
But my ghosts and regrets kept me awake and
staring at my bedroom walls and
at the ceiling fan spin-
round and round and round
until my tired eye lids fell against each other
But even then
The phantoms that haunted me were inescapable
Plaguing my mind with terrible and
unfathomable things

I ran from them
I fought them
I sat upright in a cold sweat-
goosebumps trailing up my bones
I searched in the closet-
And under the bed-
For the monsters
That were already inside my head