He picks at every layer
Dissecting slowly, slowly, slowly
Lips inhale her
As the tongue tastes.

Poor doe, she had no chance.
The woods are wild and he –
He marked her as his own

Finally he had her.
He could take her down
– Make her his forever.
Consume her.

Knowing her, he knows
How to hunt.
She’s a well-thumbed book,
He’s an avid reader.

They tussle and fight
But slowly he subdues her.
Lays her down
Makes the fatal blow.

Claws out, teeth bared, eyes gleaming
He devours her.
Down to the bone, the core.
He has every inch of her.

He was so hungry.
Now he is almost too full.
She seemed to fill him,
Stuff him more than the others.

Why would she let him have her?
And so easily.
She knew his hunger.
She needed to satisfy.

Soon, he would finish.
Eventually he would be hungry again.
He ate his fill that night,
She was gone by the end.

He laid back, stuffed and satisfied.
Glanced at the meal’s remains,
What a mess he’d made.
And so he left.

He was never good at cleaning up.

I am trying.
To quiet a mind that won’t rest.
I lay quietly in the dark,
Surround myself with softness –
With warmth.

Small creature comforts.
Yet every moment of my days
Spins out of my head.
Writhing long tangled tangents

Thoughts curled into my hair,
A Medusa of intellect.
The peace of being a statue alluring.
Reverse metamorphoses.

I lay still and quiet,
My mind screams.
A swirling whirlpool, undertow
Beneath serene seas.

Sleep evades me.