Nightmare Box Poem by Dhimsha Riza

i painted this room with my own hands. washed every trace of you off my walls and coloured them anew. i shoved your remnants into the small box of nightmares hidden under my bed.

the thing about nightmares is that they like to escape the box, they like to come out and play. and you? you have become my favourite nightmare i relive every night, relishing in the high of not knowing if i will survive to see the dawn break.

sticks and stones may break my bones but you —
you break the only heart i have, over and over again.