I am still afraid of the dark.
It haunts me at night,
with it’s unknown reaches,
and lingers into day.
It’s always there
On the edge of my vision
And I am so afraid. 

Like a tangled room of emotion,
I try to hide my tears of terror
Behind the curtaim of my eyelids
But one creeps out. 
It trickles down my cheek,
Cuts my spirit with an icy blade,
Falls
             Falls
                               Falls. 
And I dream of a day 
Where I am not afraid of the dark.

I dream of a day
Where my friends and I
Can walk through the night,
Express our queerness,
Have pride in our pronouns, 
Show our sexuality
With our heads held high. 
No fear can touch us. 

I dream of being free,
Untouchable, 
Unafraid. 
I dream that we stand, united, in the light
And no darkness can touch us
Because we are safe. 
I dream of a day
Where 14-year-olds
Don’t need
To be Afraid
Of the dark. 

Instead, my heart races
My brain resorts
To frantically texting the group chat
When insolent boys
Imitate my dog’s distress,
Heckle,
Harass, 
Put me in precedented fear
While I try to walk by.
All we ever did
Was try
To walk by. 

I dream that,
Maybe one day,
After the struggle is over,
We’ll make a world
Where no one
Is afraid 
Of the dark