Elise Skidmore

Across the bedroom
a squirrel with a fluffy tail
sits on a stump.
It holds a rose,
lost in peaceful thought.
Its light shines from within,
calming in the dark,
but I am still afraid.
My sister sings happy songs
she learned in school
to chase away monsters
that might hide in corners
where the light cannot reach.
Wrapped in the luminescence of love,
I drift into sweet dreams.

~Elise Skidmore ©2023