The Monster By Sophie Miller ’22
As I tiptoe across my bedroom I taste your shadow Forever just a step behind me Watching Always You feel the same Curdled breath sticking to my collarbone Phantom claws ripping my back open like wrapping paper But tonight Instead of running I wonder What if I reached out my hand? Caressed pincers with a soft palm Felt muscle beneath those child-shredding talons Matched your rhythm Do you have a heart? Does it beat like mine? Speed up when you’re near me? Keep you swaddled tight in a spiderweb of capillaries Until I decide to stay here with you forever?
Yes, to flee would be wasteful. Fruitless. I cannot escape your pulsating thrall I no longer want to Do I love you monster? Your ever presence comforts me Your venom makes me blush But I know you think about me too These nights we lose ourselves in each other Somehow you understand everything. You know me better than I know myself I think I need you monster. You complete me. You are me Gracefully wrong Eternally right. What made me run before? Such a fool I was. I’ll never leave you again 64
