my gentle monsters

I keep them in the quiet, underneath my bed, I count their ragged breathing, the voices in my head I built these walls to hide them, so polished and so deep, But every time I turn the light on, it's them I see in my sleep But the fighting, it is wearying, this battle I can't win, They're woven into every thread of fabric I am in So let them in, my gentle monsters, pull up a chair and stay, We'll learn to share the silence at the closing of the day We don't have to be friends, no, we don't have to pretend, We just have to learn to live together 'til the very end For the anger and the sorrow, and the secrets I can't tell, They are not my cursed possessions, but a part of me as well This shadow-self, this fractured half, is mine to hold, not shun, The darkest soil where from my fragile, little victories are won You meet me in the daylight, you think you know my face, You never see the company I bring to every place The doubt that sits beside me, the fear you'll never know, They're the architects of every careful word I let you know But I'm done with all the hiding, this charade I can't sustain, To cut them out would leave a wound, a permanent, bloody stain So let them in, my gentle monsters, pull up a chair and stay, We'll learn to share the silence at the closing of the day We don't have to be friends, no, we don't have to pretend, We just have to learn to live together 'til the very end My gentle monsters My quiet, gentle monsters We're learning how to live