Hiding in the Shadows

The hospital visit goes the same as it has before

She starts screaming when she sees me come through the door

Mom was never like this, not until the day she saw the thing

That had been hiding in the shadows

It probably stalked her most her life

Peaking around the corners of her mind, out of sight

She tried to stay one pill, one step ahead of the thing

That had been hiding in the shadows

Not a flesh and blood monster in the physical sense

But something unseen, something so much more intense

Only she could feel or see this dreadful thing

That had been hiding in the shadows

As long as she ignored it and looked away

Medicate to keep the bad thoughts at bay

Put on a smile and sing a song to distract her from the monster

That had been hiding in the shadows

When it finally caught her it took the memories from her head

It made her utter terrible things she'd never before said

It robbed her of herself and we hated that thing

That had been hiding in the shadows

She was still with us in flesh but no longer in spirit

Her voice was no longer hers and it hurt me to hear it

It turned her into a shell of what she was, this thing

That was no longer hiding in the shadows.

She's been gone from us for five long years

The good times and bad still bring the tears

I prayed her death also took from us the thing

That had been hiding in the shadows

But occasionally, I catch a glimpse of the thing

A flash, a quick glance of that wretched thing

Waiting in the dark to pounce once again

From where it's been hiding in the shadows.