Demons

We all have them.

They came in all shapes, sizes, forms, and manifestations. We call them skeletons in the closet; we call them the repressed; we call them desires; we call them vice; we call them greed. But a rose by any other name... We all have them.

Most of us have more than just skeletons. Within us are corporeal, carnal beasts of burden. At times they incestously breed; at others it is a mere solitary beast. But they are ever present, every waking moment, with every passing consciousness. They haunt existence itself.

It is the condition of life - to be constantly struggling against the beasts we lock deep within in the dark abyss that is our soul. Each day, from behind the dim-lit dungeon walls they seek to claw their way to consciousness, to action. They howl, they shriek in agony, they yearn to be fulfilled, to be satisfied, to be released from the grills that encage desire and instinct.

These are our inner demons, ever trying to break free of their imprisonment within us. We suppress them, yet they yearn to be unleashed. These are the more dangerous breed; demons that no one else sees nor knows of their existence, until they take us over. We fight valiantly against them, locking them inside their cages, hoping that we can throw the key away forever. Yet ethereal bars of steel cannot keep them in. At times, they take over, and at times we lose all control and succumb to the beast within us. We go on rampages, acting on all our deep subconscious desires, and especially that of our repressed fantasies. They tear down our defenses, changing us from Jekyll to Hyde, empowering and embodying us. We leave a trial of destruction in our wake, seeking that which feeds our darkest desires - of lust, of greed, of revenge.

Some of us pretend they don't exist for ignorance is indeed bliss. Some choose to admit defeat and succumb to the demonic devourings. Those who storm the battlefronts valiantly and vigilantly suffer the fate of battle scars and weariness.

But for us who do, each demon we confront and choose to banish is a moment of triumph, a growth for the inner child. At the end, we hope that in the twilight of our years we could return to the state we came - pure, untainted, beautiful... and good.

But if, and should, my inner demons take over, rest assured, once they are done with me, they'll come for you.