DEMON.....by Janette
I've never seen my demon,
but I can feel it.
Squirming around,
Way down deep inside,
Trying to position itself,
In a cradle,
Just behind my heart.
Snuggling under my ribs,
Catching my breath,
Clawing and scratching against my lungs.
Choking,
Coughing,
Clotted with blood.
I sense a shadow passing behind my eyes.
The swish of a tail stirs the wind inside my bones.
It laps the soft blood beneath my breasts.
Sweet slurping sound, rhythms surging in my ears.
The weight of its belly sinks
Into the darkness of my womb.
It rests in the melancholy of twilight,
Keeping the secret of my soul.
I am devoted to its silent rituals.
Its corded tendons twisting around my spine,
Tremors creep across my fingers
As it stirs in the stillness of my heart.
It flows with my blood, slithering upward.
Upward into electric darkness,
Snaking through memory beyond time.
My brain surrenders to its hungry tongue.
Copyrighted and published in "Anniversary DiVerseCity", an anthology celebrating ten years of the Austin International Poetry Festival, Austin, Texas, 2002. art by Janette
