For the Sake of My Beloved

Between sighs of pleasure, I open

my eyes and see

this world has teeth.

I cannot feign surprise.

Only fools think beauty

doesn’t have roots in darkness.

(It was there I found you.)

Monsters and angels sing

in the same key, leaving the listener

to decode the lyrics of their songs.

You taught me to sing too,

with a voice I found

at the crest of delight.

(It was there I found myself.)

I can shut my senses to it all.

But the brush of your lips on my skin

is not something I want to pretend away.

And pretending it’s safe only makes me prey

for things with less innocent intentions.

The price of honey is the risk

of being stung. I didn’t forget.

That doesn’t mean I can’t

find my own stinger and teach

monsters to tremble instead. 

Song Choices: Marvelous Things by Eisley 

This poem was inspired by the prompt I created for Imaginary Gardens With Real Toads: Of Angels and Monsters. I asked the Toads to select from a list of seven quotes related to monsters and angels. I chose two of them.  “I’m the thing monsters have nightmares about.” from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and “One may tolerate a world of demons for the sake of an angel.” from Doctor Who.