A sandal is like a lamp

Protecting your feet from the rocky concrete streets you played on as a little girl

The streets carrying you to and from as your laughter got swept away in the wind

Until it was time for bed and fear wrestled beneath your skin

For you knew nothing of the monsters that lurked within 

The deepest darkest corners of your room 

The teddy bears you grew to love looked like a beast as they were piled high onto a chair ascending further and further up the wall

But your lamp was there to shield you from the monsters that go bump in the night

It protected you from the beasts who wore monster’s clothing but did nothing to guard you from the monsters who hid in human clothing…

The monsters that argued with your mother and spew venom until she packed us away in the car and took us on a long night’s drive

The beautiful and ghastly creatures who hated you and made it crystal clear

The mangled mortals who abandoned you

Who didn’t deserve to love you

Your gleaming lamp was nowhere to be found as you grew more and more desperate for their love

Until the day came when you finally outgrew your sandals and your lamp

Too old to require their protection 

Because you no longer play in the street

And you’re no longer afraid of monsters