You know I have my demons,
You've seen them first hand,
You've borne the brunt
Of their attacks.

You hold me as I tremble,
Helping me fight them off
Sharing your strength with me
Trying to hold them at bay.

Sometimes they sleep,
But never deeply
And never, ever
Long enough.

They awaken, snarling and snapping
At the sound of the slightest whisper
By you, the man who loves me
The darkness descends.

Bravely, you defend me
Taking blow after blow.
Trying to shelter me
Blindly fighting invisible demons.

I watch helplessly,
As they turn their focus
And begin their vehement attack
On you, the man who loves me.

I see you hurt and bleeding
As I flail and strike in vain
The demons, relentless
They strike hard and fast.

Feeding off my tears
These demons know me well
They know my greatest weaknesses
Exploiting them with skill.

And now they attack you,
The man who loves me
My brave knight,
As you try in vain to shield me.

With a burst of strength you call them
One by one, by name
They spit and claw and curse you
The war begins again.

The biggest and the meanest
Self-loathing is the first
Followed by guilt, and anger
Insecurity and fear.

I pray your strength and courage
Enough to win the test
For the demons you fight against
Live inside me.

Each word the demons push from my lips
Strikes you deep and hard.
As tears flow from my eyes
Life flows from your wounded heart.

I try to run away,
To save you from myself
But you follow me and fight
You are the man who loves me.

The war rages on and on
Ground, won and lost
Wounded and bleeding, on you fight
The prize is worth the cost.

You think you’re winning
When a sudden blow
Knocks your feet from under you
And takes your breath away.

Insidious and vicious
The demons attack in force
Our only hope is to outlast them
Then kill them in their sleep.

Will they sleep long enough?
I hope and pray they do,
For when the battle is over
All that’s left is me and you.