The bridges I build
Are of wick and candle wax slick
And I’ll dare you to climb,
Like the flames inside.

Let’s not pretend
That's in the back of your mind
In the darkest rooms you visit
Or the dead of night
You’re not trembling.

For the monster under your bed,
Is the one lurking behind the mirror
And every day you give up,
Its image becomes clearer.

She moves in and out of the shadows,
A wraith wishing through the stygian sylvan meadows,
Slipping, walking into ancient tapestries,
As she stalks, teary-eyed.

Chilling through loud shrieks as moonlight retreats
And it was the light that betrayed her translucent silhouette
From her form unfurled black tenebrous tendrils that reach to the distance
Polluting roots with the same decay that became of her visage
Miasmic plumes of thick white fog loom, choking oxygen,

Vengeful acidic tears,
Etch lines she’d cross within the fabric of her soul,
Her spirit, if it willed, could condemn the living
In each dagger-laced umbral stare.
It was the light that betrayed her,
As benevolent as she was, there came no absolution.

Weaving in and out of the shadows,
Phantasmagorically she betrays them,
Luring them into her den of retribution,
As the tendrils grasp like leeches,
Bringing her new legions,
She is the queen of liches,
Forsaken banshee, in her nocturnal fortress of the forest
Like an angry Irish fae, or the Morrigan herself.
Corvid whispers in soft ****** caws,
Led to her spectral draw,
Had we prayer, may we pray to a god to save us all.

Proudly standing upon his monument,
The basking sun graces his tangerine and auburn scales
Strong little limbs push his head and chest skyward.
He looks on, judging,

An adjunct king
In his glass desert oasis,
A master of all, a slave to none.
His prehistoric ancestry granted protection
In spiny spikes upon his clubbing tail.

He is a devourer of the green,
Conqueror of ancient ruins,
The master of snark,
The curator of scathing stares
A Speedster with a penchant for dance.

As he circles, round and round
Within his cavern, where the light cannot touch
The souls of those gone before console
As this dinosaur retreats for another sleep.

Little frame with a Kaiju spirit,
He watches, always judging
And loves with microscopic cracks in his steadfast walls
All may hail, all may bow, and worship
Hades the the prideful spiny tail.

You have Icarus wings,
And the sun is beating down.
Your halo is plastic,
Melting through your hair.
Think they’ll listen to you now?

Convincing as you tried,
A carnival sleight of hand,
Distracting with your clamor.
Did you hope they'd understand
While you dragged me through the gallows,
Lashed me with leather tongues,
Hoping I'd succumb to your reprimand?

Let me be a sacrifice
Martyrdom, a swinging pendulum,
Tethered to the truth etched on my wrinkles.
I’ll die never having known your lies.
No regrets will pile upon my station,
No weights to drag my feet down,
No anchor when the rope catches my throat.

I surrender nothing.

So tell them,
Talk in your Sunday masses
Tell them I was a demon,
Condemn then, condemn
And I’ll haunt in untold horrors.

Let you cast the first stone,
May it break my bones,
Truth seeps from my marrow
Bleeds out onto your stage,
How can you control them when..

You have Icarus wings,
And the sun is beating down
Your halo is plastic,
Melting through your hair,
Who will believe you now?

I have so many daggers put in my back
That trusting another soul is profoundly insane
I expect you will ****** in yet another blade.
I wonder, what can one sew with the pins in my spine
If I gave you threads of honesty in every produced line?

Oftentimes, when the humidity
Suffocates, a thick, wet shroud,
And the heat presses, an invisible oven,
I yearn to melt into the grotto's cool,
Or sink my feet knee-deep within the creek,
Where I might skip slick shale,
Track darting crawfish,
And unearth forgotten whispers of the water,
As my body drinks the cool, hydrating peace..

What a useless thing,
It stands there stalwart
With a child like expression.
Crudely constructed,  
Kindergarten craft like.

Hair made of straw,
Skin dry and burlap,
Eyes wide and sunken,
Smile crooked and broken.

What a sad thing it is,
Hay filled and overstuffed
Obese, rotund, and moldy
Old and foul smelling—
A potpourri of fungus and rot.

Allegedly scary to the crows,
Standing well within the rows
Protecting corn and other crops
Superstitious like native myths,
But a whiff, a shame
As crows land and pass their excrement.

Dirtied beaten thing
A sign of harvest and oncoming fall,
But a parody of Mythos past
As this scarecrow scares nothing at all.

I'm easy to please; 
hard as that may seem to believe.
Hand me a pizza—

Tuscan pepperoni, extra cheese.

Or, if you prefer, a cocktail or daiquiri,

With some loud music and scenic views, a tropical breeze.

You could come as you are, or dress to the nines.

I'm a playful soul, attracted to a wilder kind.

Some say I'm a joker; 

I'm just trying to have a good time.

I'm easy to please,

Like a cat when pet under the chin. 

You can dazzle me with honesty or perplex me with a game.

I'll answer twenty questions, then ask forty more.

I'm happy with neon lights,

Simple delights,

Where vibrant colors dance like cotton candy wonder. 

And I wonder, wondrously—

How lips might taste, if given a kiss.

I'm easy to please.

See, I'm just a Scorpio; 

I flow with the motion— 

But I want to swim in your soul's depths, like the ocean.

Tell me your dreams, show me your favorite stars.

I want to know what makes you scream, or where you'd travel,

No matter how far. 
I want to discover your elements, 

Combine minerals to refine your shine,

Because I think we are all rough diamonds.

I'm easy to please. 

Just smile at me, subtly tease, make me chase. 

But don't be afraid to capture me,

Captivate my eyes, run wild within my mind.

Be like a celestial body and shine down upon me.

I am inviting, like an open wolf's maw— 

But I'll never chomp down unless you enjoy the biting.

I'm easy to please. It's true. You'll see.

In every bloom,
Pollinated happiness
Intoxicates me with colorful hallucinations
Brightening the shadows within.

Long have I, like a vampire
Dreamt of catching light, tho so denied
And amid this paradise,
I let the warmth of the morning sun comfort me.

Here among the emerald,
Verdant rows with pops of violet or orange,
A vibrant kaleidoscope of crimson and apricot
I am entranced, bewildered by ancient magics
Holding me like a newborn babe,
Swaddled within a blanket of leaves.

I am happiest in this retreat,
Rocking in my chair,
Sipping sweet tea as the flies compete
Racing for supremacy, spiraling for control.
While busy bees pollinate and buzz a little song for me.

I can hear the gentle lullabies of trees
As zephyr winds shake within the canopies
As light dazzles through the concave of leaves,
Bountiful essences, nature teaches healing,
Through a balm of wonder and make-believe.

Catch me among the wilds,
Wrap me up in serendipity,
Let me wave off the shade of reality,
Lingering obligations.

I don’t want to wake up in the dark clouds
When the morning star shines so bright
Illuminating life in all blissful reprisals
I’ll sing a reverie for the waking world
In a chorus crescendo with song birds at the melody.

In every bloom,
Pollinated happiness.
Let me hallucinate for a while,
Among the emerald and pops of gemstone blooms
Where inside hope springs ever more eternal.

Somewhere in the vast expanse--
Where the stars escape,
And matter dances to their disco light shows,
Where do dreams go when the magic dies?

Endless breaths
Chasing the ceaseless,
Nothing here remains constant.

Here among an ever changing cast,
A character sheet, with a font unknown
Translates love into these bones,
Sacrificed for a life that was once meaningful.

Empty space,
Like a void in the heavens
A place where angel voices do not carry
I won't hear you if you try to reach me,
Over and out, something grips
I'm bleeding now, wound caused a chasm.

In silent gallows,
Loose lips sink these surly ships,
Let me find peace in depths
Swimming to find the endless.

All that we are, that could ever be
Remnants rooted from deadened things,
Dust from the ashes of light
And we desperately want to burn again
Embers of a great flame, never dying
Phoenix down pillows, I don't want to wake.

Somewhere in the vast expanse,
Dreaming in the endless,
Chasing destiny as destruction fills the void
Delirium overwhelms me like overgrowth
I'm covered in the emerald, flowering.

Desire burns, I become, what was--
Fire unburdened, a star rekindled
So matter can dance as I shine.

Don't you wake me from this,
Let me cast the characters,
And live at last as I should, one among the many.

Where do dreams go when the magic dies?
Here inside the mind a void calling to the endless.

Don’t you worry
It won’t be too long little ones
Basking in your slumber,
Kicking little feet in fleeting dreams,
Covered by the brush,
I’ll protect as a sentinel.

Soon you’ll wake up,
Gather from your burrow
Yawn from the rousing
And look for a treat,
Perhaps a strawberry,
Maybe one of the tomatoes
Perhaps you’ll climb into the bed
Try to Dig for yet-to-be carrots
Maybe even just the tuft of pumpkin leaf?

I’ll watch over you,
Guided hand for when the hawks soar,
Hungered beaks seeking
Like a man to his BBQ meats,
She glides in circles,
Stubborn to retreat,
But not when I watch
Not when I am standing on two feet.

Don’t worry,
As you grow,
Those hoppy legs
Propelling zoomie times
Where you wind up at my side
I am your arboreal sentinel,
Verdant protector.