She kept me around
on her pantry shelf
as she sucked another soul
glibly into her gullet
licking her fingers in feigned innocence
knowing I was there
in despair
Clean hope was her enemy
It’s fresh scent leads prey off the trail
Into the thriving woods
Up the ridge and away from the bog she tends
Come and sit with me here
On the edge of the foul pond
Sit, chat,
bear your pain to me
She sang in her siren’s song
Duped, drugged, and so thirsty
with despair
we all went,
more than once
Letting her pick tidbits off
for later use
when least expected
at the weakest moment
Until unable to rise…
One after another,
Scrabbling for purchase
On the oily rock of her heart
She rose up revealed,
dripping
from dark pool of her grief
unhinged,
and as she swallowed them up
There was a moment of unity and calm surrender
A moment of peace,
Until…
juicy needs digested
her blinking beacon drones back on
She’s got to have more
to swallow
Even if in madness
She sucks her own tail down her gullet
She was too good at what she did
And ran through her stock of lost ones
Stronger in her desperate desire
She casts her eyes for me
again,
She stalks me through time
From bed
From the grave
From the mirror
But I dodge
and weave
and pray
slip away
into the now-day
And this time,
Her web comes up empty
Soon your phantom bat-wings will shake and juggle
No more