Are You Scared?

Are you scared of spiders
and all those things that bite
things that touch your toes
in the middle of the night
    
     things with twenty legs
     that wiggle as they're creeping
     things that find their way into
     your ears while you are sleeping

Are you scared of darkness
that makes all a mystery
distorting heaps of clothes
from what they're s'posed to be
    
     turning jackets into figures
     that hover by the door
     making sleeves look like monsters
     crawling from your drawer

Are you scared of the creature
that lives below your bed
do you shake with fear and
pull the covers o'er your head

     do you tuck your legs up
     so he can't reach your feet
     and make an airtight tent
     with your blanket and your sheet

Are you scared of aliens
from another galaxy
the kind that kidnap you
then erase your memory

     the ones that pull you in
     with their giant laser beams
     that see into your brain
     and visit you in dreams

Are you scared of the bumps
and the whispers and the scratching
are you scared of all the fears
night is busy hatching

     are you scared even though  
     your parents tell you not to cry
     if you're scared, I have a secret
     shhh...      so am I