I walk into your toxic depths.
Scarlet dress,
Bold as anything,
Ribbons trailing behind in rivers of blood.
Ghostly light dances over my skin,
Almost unsure,
As though I didn’t belong here,
My presence too thunderous and filled with allure.

Toeing the edge of danger like a child who does not know fear,
I thought I was anchored to safety.
But your svelte whispers caress against my skin,
A thousand million temptations.
I crash deep into your rabbit hole,
Falling until the ends of my scarlet ribbons disappear.

You bind me now with an unforgiving chain,
Punishment for daring to be so vain.

Scarlet is your prerogative,
The color you cut from the rainbow and called your own,
Well spread knowledge,
No one dares touch or they must atone.

My dress hangs in tatters,
I crash to my knees.
Offer you a singular rose.
White on its own,
Dyed crimson with my pounding heart,
Color gushing from slices I compose.
A violent work of abstract art,
Purity stained with toxins of my veins.

My eyes are locked upon this blossom,
FIngers trembling around the stem,
Thorns tear through my delicate flesh,
A welcome pain.
Make me bleed.
For you I scour my insides afresh.

With a rake of your claws,
It withers away,
Petals crumbling to dust,
Overflowing with disdain.
A silent scream burns me like alcohol on a winter night,
The core of my life flickers and loses its light.

Please cut me open,
Dear monster I crave,
Spill my heart upon the floor,
Make my lifeblood your slave.
Gather a thousand white roses,
A million or more,
Put them in my shaking hands,
Drown them in my grave.

You will see then,
I am scarlet at my core.