Monsters

Why yes, Henri, I do believe in monsters
 Not the kind with leathery scales
 bloodshot eyes or lizard tails
 not the ones with razor claws
 yellow fangs or gaping jaws
 No, I don't believe in those monsters at all
 Why yes, Naheed, I do believe in monsters
 Not the kind beneath your bed
 waiting for your sleeping head
 to roll past your mattress edge
 so it can pull you by the hair
 helpless to your bedroom floor
 where it climbs upon your chest
 hold a paw across your mouth
 so you cannot cry for help
 while your parents, panicked frantic
 pound outside your bedroom door...
 No I don't believe in those monsters at all
 Where do all the lost dogs go
 kitchen knives and vanished pills
 soldiers' severed legs and arms
 a joker from a dirty deck of cards
 unmailed checks and unpaid bills
 and all of the missing little boys and girls
 They go down... down... into the monster's mouth