Monster Poem by Erin Suurkoivu

There is nothing to pinpoint
Of the strange beast.
Only images,

Blurred and refracted,
Fleeing down a hallway
Of mirrors.

O maestro of conditions,
It is you they are in love with,
A dark sun unaware of its own orbiting planets.

They are the cause of all of it.
Every comet, every lack
Leaves a trail etched across your sky.

And in their eight eyes
Something seemingly whole becomes distorted,
A piece cut out made separate from the rest.

From this gulf appears a war engine,
A bite of venom,
The desire to kill what they can't.

Darling of judge and jury,
Blame absolves them of all responsibility.
You are the sole carrier of their weakness.

They fill your skin with their nightmares.
Flesh as fruit
Is strictly poisonous,

Bleaching the sheets of the saints.
Now no more—
Vanished,

Like what was found and then lost.
Like what was married and
Soon divorced.

Still, notoriety is a phantom
Floating in cages,
Star player

At a masquerade,
Costumed with
Your own face.