tenebrosity

i have never gotten over my fear
of the darkness. instead i dream
that i have woken up
alone in the night forest, one eye
fluttered open in search of
the horizon and the other
turned downwards to the earth
it is quiet, still              besides for
the shards of moonlight quivering
through the trees, and at home

they fear the nighttime too, when
the creatures cry in the woods
and mothers draw their curtains, hold
their sleeping babies close
to their chests to let their breaths
warm the dewy eyelashes of
their children and count
their                 heartbeats

leave the lights on. i am afraid
of the forest, the dark, of what cries
in the woods among the shadows
of my own breath

By Amanda Huang

Biography:

Amanda Huang is a junior at Millburn High School, where she is a senior editor of her school’s literary magazine. Her work has been nationally recognized by the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards and JustPoetry, and has been published in TeenInk and in the Word magazine.