She stands frozen,
pigtails in the master’s lair.
He hisses.
For a moment she believes
it’s just a bad dream . . .
The sad faced boy
brings tarantulas to class.
Someone breaks in
to kill us while we sleep.
Lost in the forest
we stand naked, vulnerable.
It’s dark and I’ve misplaced you.
I did so many things wrong.
He’s there,
over and over again,
letting me believe he might still love me,
then fades away,
laughing at my silliness
for believing he loved me
in the first place.
I find myself in despair and he comes back,
over and over again,
to tell me he doesn’t want me.
I used to be afraid of snakes,
but their soft hiss no longer frightens me.
Over and over again,
they come to me
speaking serpentine soliloquies,
then slide away.
Lost in the forest,
I stand naked and vulnerable,
but awake.