Poems of a Broken Man

The Five Horsemen of Your Mind

It seems to get harder late at night, when everything is quiet and content.
When everything is winding down, and your mind settles, and re-captures the day's events.
When you lay down your head and you rest into your bed, then the demons come out to play.
The devils named Worry, Anxiety, Stress, Fear and Pain.
Each of the devils five prey on you, in those hours of darkness.
Each of them bringing gifts of different kinds.

Worry brings you doubt about your days to come; Anxiety brings you shakes of all kinds; Stress gives you hair loss, as you tug and pull at each thread; Fear brings you demons behind your eyes, no matter how tightly you shut them; and finally Pain brings you sensations no other could.

He drives a knife through your heart and pulls it down your chest. He makes a howling sound as he does to draw the attention of the other Devils, so that they might slip inside your freshly gaping wound.

They crawl in, each leaving claw marks across your chest and making room for the next as they go. They inhabit your body, possessing you through your nightmares, your visions, and anything else your brain might control. They spark life in those devilish antics of theirs, not moving on until your body can dispel enough antibiotics and antibodies to fend off the devilish beasts. And if you are finally rid of them, the hole inside you feels relief and peace. And in that moment you hope they never return, hope that they won't return the next night, with fresh bacteria your antibodies aren't prepared for.

You can't prepare for the demons when they come, but you can keep your weapons close at hand for their inevitable return.