Her silent steps were not as effortless as they once were
with footpads worn down from constantly having to walk away,
she tiptoed around the beast that blocked the path she had traveled
hoping it would not awaken when she crept closer to view it.
What caused her to veer so close she could not explain
with a thousand paths that would have provided a safer distance,
but one step too close and the deep rumbling sleep halted
and a quick gasp was consumed by the quiet that preceded it.
In that moment her curiosity turned into caution
as she saw the tiny scythes attached to each finger,
the trembling escaped her core and into her limbs
as she thought it reached to take what it wanted before departing.
What could a beast want except the same as those before it
but it turned slowly and stared through your eyes,
you thought that it might pour you into a cup to consume your essence
and you flinched every single time it caressed you.
Each touch and caress built a bridge of bone and flesh
for exhausted souls to travel across to meet,
in hopes she would wear down her footpads just a little more
to escape the walls of the hedge maze she was in.
So that she may be as enlightened as the moon
as it illuminates the path for earthly travelers at night
while the sun ceaselessly pours its energy over it
and glorifies how brightly it shines.