X: Father’s Lullaby

Dear child, the monsters under bed

Are not just make believe.

They lurk in shadows overhead

And offer no reprieve.

Dear sweetling, sleep with open eye

And guard your dreams at night.

Ignore your mother’s lullaby,

Keep candles burning bright.

Beware the lair that closets hide,

The racks of their disguise,

The suits and ties, the cuffs that slide

And cloak them from your eyes.

Fear not the slash of sharpened claws,

The flashing terror brief,

But stamps that mark the written clause

With laws of fierce belief.

What evil deeds those stories tell

Prepare your heart to meet

The formal world where heroes fell

To wander incomplete.

• April 2025

Submission History

Date	Publication	Status
April 27, 2025	Writer’s Digest Competition	Pending
June 4, 2025	Swan Scyth Press	Pending
June 13, 2025	New Verse Review	Rejected
June 22, 2025	Backbone Mountain Review	Pending