i really want to know (revise)

think i'm gonna have to ask some people for help on this one, now that i finally have a poem that i actually like well enough to want to continue to work on. ^^; and i need to think of a better title for it... -_-;


. . . . .


i really want to know

tell me about all those things
you keep hidden in your closet--
that come out at night
to tap-dance strange rhythms across your dreams
and leave little footprints of hesitation
on your mind.

i really want to know.

whose body have you hidden,
safe beneath the floorboards,
that makes you so afraid of the dark,
and what pet name of infinite affections
have you given to their bones?

explain to me
what strange comforts
you get from the muttering in the walls—
and who keeps stealing the bulbs from your nightlights?

what splintery, spidery creatures
keep triggering all those mouse traps
you so cautiously set,
and why
do they all have your face?

tell me,
what dark and shadowy corners of your mind
do you loose on the world at night
that let you wake up every morning
with a clean conscience
and dirty fingernails?