August 9, 2018 by ConTextos

ANDOVER, MA.

Kids walking at night carelessly; that creeps me out
Their sight fixated in front of them; that creeps me out
The unawareness of their sorroundings; that creeps me out

It creeps me out because I don’t know if they know
That I know that where I come from
There are monsters in the dark
Monsters with teeth made of lead

Monsters that hide in human faces
They don’t roar; they don’t screech
They only go BANG!
Like fireworks in the sky.

So I fear, I fear that these kids are too comfortable
I fear that they don’t know the blessings they have
I fear that my kids won’t have that chance.

Where I come from the moon creeps me out
because it carries blood with every dark sky
So why?! Answer me why!
If half the globe shares the same time

Why can’t my kids go out at night?
Why do they have to grow fangs and claws to survive?
Why do we fear them instead of feed them?

It’s time to stop having fear
It’s time for grownups to go under the bed
Where monsters exist
Pull them out of there and tuck them in

Because when monsters stop having fear
They go back to being our kids.

-Steven Araujo, ConTextos’ Graphic Designer.

Steven went this summer to the Breadloaf  Writing Program in Andover, Massachusetts. This is one of the pieces he wrote during the summer.