Three Pansy Petals

I wonder what he sees

When he looks at me

His son

Or

The demon

The one he believes

So vehemently

So strongly in his bones

Abides

In me

That he was urged to talk to it

Through me

Or

A wicked concoction

Of both

Mixed together

In some witch’s brew

Who took a lock of

My hair

And a swig of

My saliva

Three scoops of dirt

From the earth

Under the light of

A crescent moon

Two tea spoons of

Swamp water

Under a setting sun

And lastly

The most important ingredient

Three pansy petals

Soaked in goat’s blood

To represent

The perversion

The potion was meant

To turn me into

Was it slipped into

My drink

Was it circulated as

Incense

That covered my room

As i slept

Traveling down

My nostrils

And into

My lungs

Contaminating the very air

I breathe

Or was I bathed in

The potion

Covering it in

My skin cells

Letting it sink into

My body

And

My blood

Poisoning

My DNA

Distorting the fabric of

Myself

Allowing it to sink into

My soul

Grasping it’s prickly fingers around

My throat

Suffocating out it’s ability

To speak

To speak one simple

Word

One he spoke to

The demon

Until he felt I could

Say it:

Jesus

Jesus

Jesus

Jesus free my son

From

The demon

That suffocates him

That chains him

That torments him

I hear him chanting it

At night

After he closes

His bible

Utters

His last prayer

And

Longing Amen

As he shuts off

His lamp

And crawls under

The covers

In complete darkness

Repeating as

A mantra

A wish

A declaration

As he imagines

The demon

Suffocating

My soul

Writhing in pain

From

His celestial attack

Slightly begin to release

His fingers

From

My throat

Finally giving it room to utter

His prayer

To set me

Free

But

He eventually grows tired

His words

Grow softer and

Faint

Slowly beginning to die as

His eyes

Begin to flutter

And

His mind

Begins to go blank

And his power over

the demon

Is gone

And his clutch on

My throat

Tightens

And

My voice

Is lost

I wonder

How he sees this

And is still able to say

“I love you”

I love you

Or the actions that follow

Feels like

A hammer

Pressing on

A nail

A rope tightening around

The neck

A lash

Hitting

My back

So

I recede

From it

Until I can

Barely feel it

And now I wonder

If one day

His love

Will be nothing

To me