Red flags burning,
I awoke to the sounds
of fireworks going off in the church
of Mary's angel.

In the evenings,
the river ran up to meet me
and I floated,
face first,
downstream,
during twilight's hunting season,
I wept Ophelia's tears for her as her
breathing became heavy, ******, and wise.

Heaven scoffs at the matchmaker,
teeth marks left on the stove by the monster,
I snuck in the backdoor of hell
to return my costume
from the grisly masquerade
held on a saturday night.
The devil's horns are raised to the sky
as he counts backward from Scorpio.