her lips stretch
to show sharp fangs,
dripping with venom
and
her throat palpitates
as she lets out
a warning hiss;
she is a snake,
poisonous and deadly,
and i have been warned
time and time again
to stay far,
far away,
but as usual,
the allure of danger
calls to me
and i inch
closer and closer,
heart beating
faster and faster
— her body tenses,
prepared to strike —
but as usual,
i ignore everything in my
pursuit.
but,
unlike other snakes
i have encountered,
this one has
the power to
strike back

they are angels ;

milky-white, star-spun bells
from which sway twisting ribbons,
dancing tendrils of sterling light & water.

heavenly figures of alien purity
drifting in cold, windless corridors of black crystal.
hallowed places,
devoid of temporal rot.

their songs whisper to my shaken core.
stingers embedded in ivory flesh.
filling my veins with sweet poisons,
my mind with inane fantasies,
& wild compulsions.