havoc arrives

pearls laying  just so on a long, white neck

dark eyes shining      behind a mardi gras mask, feathered and bejeweled

all in place            to hide her …

creative need plays on her finely tuned starvings and cravings

as she dismisses the apparent daily bread of boredom and rush-starved libido

as simple folly     an unnecessary danger   a brief mental retreat

yet, preoccupied with such unreasonable hunger,  she searches for sparks and danger

while clouds gather out her windows in the chilly night sky….

what  is this that has reached a boiling point leaving her       famished

and searching for words that heat-seek?

in silence, she begs those offering a distant challenge

to try and fill her parched throat, and tend to her thirsty soul…

havoc waits at the ready  feeling in pockets for the hidden

small knives placed just so beneath her velvet-soft cape

blades of darkness and she has unwittingly sharpened each tip

ready, in an instant, to slice out the heart of

trust and shared years from the distant eyes of one

so familiar and         so  beloved…

yet, nightly, she casts out the lines of pretend innocence into these dangerous waters

refines her avatar and continues a perfect dive into shark infested seas

all the while, feigning innocence..

innocence?

smiling darkly the admission comes

innocence?

(not on her life)