These demons haunt me in my most vulnerable state,
They lurk when the lights dim and my eyelids lay heavy on my face,
I hear how they call my name,
From the distance they draw me near, from close proximity they capture me
Holding me close, between their hands and chest
I smell their bitter fragrance, how it transfers to my skin, how it submerges into the layers of my flesh
Seeps deep into me,
I feel how we become familiar to one another, our bodies in sync
We move to rhythms of our sorrow, swing our hips in patterns of self-neglect,
Dancing and embracing this moment of our emptiness,
The moments where we fade, into a distance close to our being,
We wake back to reality and these demons
No longer seem to appear to me when my eyes are sealed from the light
But appear in the image I see when I make contact with the mirror