A Copy Of Poem #5 Poem by Danny Villela-Guzman

Two months against three years,
Nearly perfect.
A cruel game turned on its head
And I was pinned under the board
The three of us danced the horrid tango.
Each of our footprints was laced in red

It was two of us
A honeyed moon, navy sky, sweetened spinning
My own curiosity pulled me in
But satisfaction couldn't resurrect me.
‘Round and ‘round, I lifted her.
All the while her nails dug deeper and deeper into my arms
I grew dizzy and dazed,
Exhaustion and fatigue set in as the dance floor began to sink.
The honey was sickening
The taste of nature's candy rotted my tongue

By year two, I was drowning.
Each time I spoke, she cried and sunk her nails into my throat
Weeping like an angel
Tangling her fingers in my heartstrings
Beauty did not tame the beast
Beauty broke him like a stallion in the west
I still strained to waltz through the golden bog as I held her above the surface

I no longer fought,
On my back, as she straddled my hips
like the lifeless preserver bound to keep her afloat
When my head breached the surface, I gagged
Honey fled my lungs
I held her waist wanting nothing more than to pin her under me
And wrap my weary hands around her delicate little throat

I wanted to watch her writhe
Gasping and screaming for air
As the corpses of bloomed larvae sat still in the thickened prison
And just as her asphyxiated cheeks could not grow deeper
I would lift her from damnation
To sink each fang into her delectably drenched jugular
Indulging in her marinated flesh

And yet, I lifted her again.
Placing her on her feet above the sunken, checkered floor
Under the crimson sky
Slowly moving to hold her delicate hand
Still dripping with my ruby blood
She wept,
Hiccuping as I held her chin
But she had nothing to grasp
She had already ripped out every thread
She sunk with every step I took

When I arose from my slumber I couldn't recognize them
But I knew her touch anywhere,
Affectionate and suffocating.
They were dancing once again
Prancing on the sugary sweet

It made my mouth water
Despite the loss of appetite,
So I wiped my chin and turned away from the two
Waltzing under that honeyed moon.
The moon I came to despise.
Soon I wasn't flooded in honey but in words I swallowed
Day after day,
Somehow it still felt like we were dancing,
Like she had reappeared and they were a mere facade
Within a week, their dance had ended
And they barely seemed to care,
Skipping as if they were still dancing with a partner
They imagined just for themself

My words had reached my throat and I could barely move,
Barely think,
Though many were dancing beside me,
I was still.
My sides were stuck in a vice grip
And bile burned my throat
As the words I hid tore into my esophagus.
Was She inside?

I made a break.
Who was waiting for me
Drained the words in my chest
With a mere smile.
The dancer they abandoned
Sat before me with a partner beside her,
Her kind eyes were dull
But brighter than the colors I adorned

She didn't twist my arm, barely even asked of my affliction,
She merely extended a hand,
Waiting for the Beast to take it.
Despite the blood on my tongue
I rested my hand in hers.
She spotted the marks on my arm
And began to caress each one
Showing me one of hers in return.
We both felt Her touch
And I found console

Together we stood as wallflowers,
Hidden from the light of the honeyed moon
Paying no mind to those who danced.
We indulged in each other's presence
And the security that came with it.
Soon we no longer concerned ourselves with the marks left behind.
We made our own music with our laughter and banter,
We nudged and prodded the spots that made us squirm,
Earning a smile even brighter than the last.
The What-Ifs and daydreams pushed and pulled at our hips,
We challenged ourselves to see who could keep up.
Before we knew it, we were dancing
In the light of the honeyed moon
As fireworks boomed
So did we
And we took our place among the stage.
We danced, as honey drenched the ankles of others.
It was only us.
But I didn't see the viscous euphoria engulfing me
In the false facility, I found so familiar.
As ruby-red nails and sharpened eyes watched on
I held tight to her hand, pulling her in
I couldn't discern the difference between
The honey-glow, or the asphyxiation
Rising in her cheeks.
I was still basking
In the flood of the honeyed moon

When the two of us finally breached the taut surface of the falls
She clung to my shoulders, hacking the remaining syrup she had consumed.
I was still licking my lips
Missing the days when honey tasted sweet.
But when she lifted her head, all I could taste was the saltiness of her tears
I was dumbfounded.
I turned my head to my hands
Seeing nothing but the painted nails
That ran my blood cold and boiled it as well.
I sunk my fangs into my lip, as I should've done to Her
As blood pooled on the surface of the sickly yellow.
I took her waist and lifted her from the glistening tar
And sat her on the crescent of the honeyed moon

For what seemed like days
I walked through the golden sea,
The weight of my actions perched upon my shoulders.
Every step I took made my vision hazy,
Every second without breath fueled the fire in my lungs,
Every pin and needle translated into the pressure pressing into the cold sting of my blood red lip
Leaving a trail of thick stagnant droplets hanging slowly
Suspended in the amber substance.

When I emerged, my limbs were drained.
My body left paralyzed by the strain of comprehending
The moments I fled.
My body slapped against the checkers of the dance floor.
Every partygoer turned as I emptied my lungs,
To this day I'm still laying prone
Watching her dance with them.
How did this happen?
When did she leap from the safety of the crescent moon?
And why does she still yearn to dance with me?