You are Safe - Sanford Inscape 2023

You are Safe

To be a child scared of the monster under the bed

Scared of the monster hiding behind the closet door

When real ones lurk in the daylight

Real ones lurk in coffee shops and schools

To be a child blissfully ignorant of the world around you

To believe lies like Santa is real, the world

Is a happy place and parents keep you safe

To be a child to believe we will be fine

Then to wake up one day scared of the monster

To realize you are not safe, to understand a car

Is more dangerous than a witch

That world has never been a happy place

To perceive all the less you have told and that others tell

And repeat, repeat until you can no longer remember

What is a lie and to tell those lies again to your child

Who woke up scared of the monster under the bed

-Siobhan Lucey '24