The woman in my eyes

Deep beneath

the surface of my brown eyes

lies a shunned woman

dressed in red silk

with purple striations

laced with venom.

She swims in the dark pool

of my pupils, waiting

to be plucked from her prison.

The water was supposed to be pink,

but she knew it had been born blue.

Deep beneath

the burdens of boyhood

lies an enigmatic girl

who wants to be seen,

so she plays the endless theatre

dance—until she’s cast as man.

The pool beckons her to merge

from day one—the devilish snake

comes nearer as her body deforms

into an ugly, hairy monster.

He sinks his fangs into her wrist;

spools of venom release

and she never lets him go—

filling my pupils with oceans of her blood,

my eyes turn from brown to blue.