Russell Rosander's Boogey Man

Taking the lid off from our fears.

That ambiguous specter
who creeps up,
  from beneath our beds
  to clutch our hearts
in the darkest hour of the night,
the invader of our restful slumber,
  spoiler of dreams,
so near the surface
  that we recoil,
  we burst through
and find ourselves
         trembling,
         engulfed in fear
  without knowing
         why.

Who, we ask,
  is this horrid denizen
  of the nether regions
  of our minds
  we know so little about,
This daemon,
  who would disrupt and disturb
  our nightly tranquility
  and play so mercilessly
              on our emotions?
              Why?

Could this visage represent
some buried and forgotten guilt?
Some pain or suffering
  we dare not acknowledge?
Or perhaps
  a premonition
              of some unforeseen disaster,
              something yet to happen?
Or perhaps
  an anxiety comes forth
  to ward off or warn us
  of some impending evil
              from the otherside
                    of light?

Or does the specter represent
  fear itself?
Fear
  of some unspecified loss,
  love or someone beloved
               not yet realized.

Or perhaps, even,
  the loss of something
  not yet held,
  only anticipated
               or expected.

We all know
  that the world
  and everything in it
  is temporary,
               but we don't
               like to admit it.
That the moment
  we grasp something,
  it's loss is implicit,
  everything and everyone
               comes and goes,
and yet,
  we dread the loss
  of anything
  from the pencil in my hand
       to
               life itself.

The premonition is
  that we will lose
  what we already know
               will be lost,
and has been
  from the moment
               it was found.

I suspect,
  that as long as we cling
  to our attachments,
  unwilling to release them
               at any time,
the boogie man
  will always be there
         lurking
               beneath
                     our bed.


— Russell Rosander


With Halloween around the corner we dip into a cauldron of poems that have the propensity to send chills. Boogie Man is from Russell Rosander's 2014 chapbook of poetry, The Devil is the Creator.

An artist and poet living in the Costalegre of Mexico, Russell Rosander is also a co-founder of the Bar None Group. He hosts weekly readings and discussions on poetry, art, music and literature...but mostly poetry at Chynna's Backstage Bar in Barra de Navidad, Mexico. You can find more of his writing at Russell Rosander Short Stories.

Russell's latest chapbook of poetry — Seeds Awakening — reflect the author's thoughts and observations in the first quarter of 2016. He has  three other limited edition volumes of poetry — The Devil is the Creator, Heart of One and MotMots Emergency — available for purchase at his Friday appearances at Hector's Corner Bar in Barra de Navidad. Copies are also available at Babalu's Café and Books in Melaque, Jalisco, Mexico.