April 1 is the start of National Poetry Month.  Since 1996, this literary celebration honors the significance of poetry in world culture, according to poets.org.  Each school day this month, the King Street Chronicle will publish one poem to recognize this month-long commemoration of poetry.

Shadows in the Dark
by Lianna Amoruso ’21

It flows. 

Uncontrollable;

static.

Beckoning.

Seducing.

Asking.

Sometimes, when its call

is strong, 

I forget myself 

and wish to fall 

into its endless 

abyss. 

The blackness 

becomes a shape; 

a spinning vortex 

in ball form. 

A tiny hurricane 

headed for my mind. 

The tears it brings 

are not a result of the darkness;

rather, 

what lies beyond it. 

Screeching, 

my brain attempts 

to send signals 

to retract

my outstretched hand. 

It is separate from me, 

more courageous at that moment

than my entire being. 

It swipes across the darkness,

dissipating the particles 

of that chaotic vortex. 

I shiver. 

There is nothing there.

Yes, there is! 

You are protected. Your parents are here. 

They can’t get here fast enough! 

There’s no one lurking in the unknown.

Says everyone ever in a horror movie.

I tighten the covers. 

They can’t get me now. 

That’s my rule, the one thing I control 

in this endless battle:

the beasts of my own mind 

can’t penetrate the comfort

my blanket provides.

Maybe, this is thanks to my sister. 

The endless nights 

she would emerge 

from dark places, 

those that lie beyond

human sight.

The darkness responds, almost in answer,

becoming denser. 

Closing 

in 

on 

my 

feeble 

imagination. 

Control. I need control. 

Over what? 

Over and over, with more and more 

conviction, 

I repeat the phrase 

my father taught me. 

The phrase that strengthened him 

when he felt that darkness, too. 

Yet, out of the corner 

of my eye, 

I watch it reform. 

I turn over.

This time, 

staring it in the eye.

Defiant.

Daring. 

Unafraid.

Come closer, friend.

Featured Image by Lé-Anne Johnson ’21