The Boogeyman

You know very well of the story
and the legend of the boogeyman,
there's many a myth and many a fact
I'll discern between them if I can.

The fear flees from you when you're older
that's why children always throw in their "bid",
to grow up more or less faster
because it's too scary being a kid.

You surely remember those nights way back  when
and how trying to sleep was a chore,
and how positive you were someone else was there
so you couldn't put your feet on the floor!

I dreaded what was my bedtime
I would've stayed up  all night,
instead I was tucked in securely
with my door closed and just a night-light.

But bed-time always came beckoning
and I never was really quite sure,
how, with this beast locked in the room with me
would I ever find the strength to endure?

for in retrospect I often wondered
what ever happened to this "man from boogey"?
and where did he sleep in the daytime,
so he could spend the whole night torturing me?

And also what did I ever do
to gain the attention of this creep?
I often would thank my lucky stars
for school, where I could get some sleep!

He would rattle my closet doors every night
and make his presence felt under the bed,
and I'd wonder, was there something I had done
to make this boogeyman want me dead?

I just knew that he wanted to eat me
so I'd take my time when told to go floss,
for the light in the bathroom was comforting
and I didn't want to end up in his "sauce"!

Then there was the tree outside my window
that really had nothing to gain,
from diverting my attention from this monster
by scraping the glass of my window pane!

Seems to me all three were in "cahoots"
and this realization was rather quite stark,
I'm speaking of the tree outside my window,
the boogeyman, and also the dark!

Bottom line is, I'm trying to get over it
but at this ripe age of fifty five,
I stayed up all night writing this
and I'm convinced that this boogeyman is alive!

I'll tell you what prompts me to say this
while writing all night and honing my craft,
my closet doors began to rattle and shake
and I was startled by an icy cold draft!

Well, I wrote many things just to keep on writing.
I couldn't have slept at all anyway,
and with the noise on the window from the tree outside
I'll just stay up nights and sleep during the day!

For now though, I must change the topic
because this boogeyman's got me uptight,
and I'm finding it too easy to blame him
for all of the strange sounds of the night.

So, don't let him steal your slumber
or the life out of your children's eyes,
or you may well end up like I did,
afraid of the dark, but so very wise!