Of all things...

If I needed to
would you let me hurt you?

You must understand,
this is what I am:
a destroyer
of all things perfect and solid,
clean and whole.

I will push too hard
slice too deep
to the marrow
down to the core
right through that palpitating heart
and out the other side.

My looking-glass is red,
I say conversationally
and constricts so painfully.
Emerging deaf and blind
with closed eyes and covered ears,
I wallow in you.
I swallow the veins in my mouth.
Prickling and rough,
as pleasant as the bending of thorns.

And no simple trip
through your soul
can change me.

You are pathetic.
You manage to be sympathetic
while bleeding to death.
You grasp my hand
as I rise to leave you:
One last kiss...
then blood-stained lips
mark my forehead.

If I had a conscience
I would wait until you died
to wipe you away.

You would let me do this?

Yes, I imagine you would.

I know you.
I recognize your kind,
reciting your blind faith
to a rosary of daisies.

I love you.

I love you not.

But I need you
to let me tear you apart.
At least, until I find
a new lamb that won't run
from the altar.

One that will mince and waltz
carouse and gambol
between the wildflowers, leaping
without crushing a single petal.

No matter the color of its wool,
it will appear to me
as a delicious red cloud,
sitting on its hind heels,
disintegrating blossoms
petal by petal and stem by stem.

With luck, I will have
no need to hide, bide my time.
Indeed, you came to me so easily,
your trust smelling of sweet-clover.
I gave the barest of smiles;
you fell in my lap.

No fairy tale
has ever told the truth:
Of all things terrible and evil,
the most dangerous of these
are the pretty ones.
Incandescent, fascinating, hypnotic.
But treacherous and tricksy as a spider web.

Wild daisies with thorns
as long as swords
and twice
as hard as steel.

~~~~~~~~~~AEW~~~~~~~~~~

'Twas a dark and stormy metonymy... <-- More Poems

And I am...

I want this swiftly brought to an end,
all this awkward fumbling, trying to
fit together puzzle pieces of flesh.
When this is done, and you moan,
you shudder, give a kiss, and sleep,
I can finish counting your scars in peace.

Give thanks for unobservant lovers.
Only those who desire and obsess
but will never possess can truly see.
I keep molded pouts and smiles in my pocket.
Seduction is built into everything I do.
And I am so fucking beautiful.

All the time, even cold and marbleized,
violent with barely bridled rage,
hiding under the guise of dreaming,
giddy within this carefully cultivated,
oddly poisonous illusion of love.
Even my flaws are bewitchingly made.

It amuses me that mankind believes
I can be caught, can ever be claimed.
I am the spirit that drives men mad,
undulating at the edges of their vision.
I am a siren, casting my hungry net
over the sea, breaking suitors against the rocks.

I am both unicorn-tamer and monster,
savagely defending my freedom
Wild and unafraid as I run the fields,
slinking and terrible as I hunt the forests
I am pleased you have learned to avoid my gaze
as you fall into place, down on your knees.

I am not on a pedestal; I was born above you
and I am in the heart of first woman.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~AEW~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Word Association is Your Friend. <-- More Poetry

Unicorn Bones

You say I gleam
like unicorn bones
in moonlight.
Eerie and cloud-white.

Mercury creaking in my veins
makes me terribly sane.
Pitch me cruelest harmony,
pinch me to sleep.
Beloved wants to see me weep.

Pain is my somnambulist,
devil's a sandman
slinking along the keep.
You can keep me but not alive.
Pandora is my lover,
panic my middle name.

She breathes in my ear
the sweetest of broken promises,
as I grin and swallow
your husband's latent shame
late-blooming like nightshade, whispering
Love is just an extinct game.

Electricity tickles the atmosphere
when the barometer's falling, snowbell's calling,
tolling out: Hear! Hark! Watch and weep.
Let the appalled audience see me
devour the writhing moon, so dim
in comparison to my radiance.

I admit it, I shine.
I try so hard not to,
with sullied mind,
dirty heart, dust-covered skin.
Can you sully the reputation
of a child of ill-repute?

You must know, all bets are off
the scale, the charts, the cuff,
when I glow supernova-bright like an
acid-tripping firefly even in daylight.
I blind, refract the tide.

Do I still shine?
Emanate light?
Imitate life?
Rip off my horn.

~~~~~~~~~~AEW~~~~~~~~~~
No one ever said living life ab ovo would be easy! <-- More Poetry

Pretty Things

Shiva, baby, can you tell me
      why is it always the pretty things
            that we so dearly love to destroy?

I want to hold you down
      press your hands above your head
            strike bruises into your perfect skin

Leave your melodious voice
      rasping and raw, gasping
            for breath as you sing my name

I know precisely what it would take
      to turn you on - you whisper to me
            your weakness in that innocent voice

I will grind my dancer's hips - hard
      between your shaking legs, teasingly bring you
            to ecstasy with one deliberate touch

Have you burning with desire
      desperate to be possessed
            aching for my slight caress

With gaze so alluringly hypnotic
      I can create any emotion, just watch my
            misleading eyes as you bite your lip

You're so beautiful it petrifies me
      to the core of my calculating heart
            how deeply I want to make you flawed

~~~~~~~~~~AEW~~~~~~~~~~

Hear no poetry, Read no poetry, Write no poetry...what a tragedy! <-- More Poems

Fare Thee Well

You had me so
bound
Head always
bowed
My mind has come
unwound
This new freedom
allowed

I thought I was
free
Reveling in the
dark
But I can now
see
Every wicked
mark

And I can now
feel
Every bitter
blow
You would have me
heal
But I bleed out
slow.

What have you done
unto me?
This world’s too
cruel and cold.
This was a perfect
slavery
You promised me
I would be sold.

Who let you
shine
Like hope at
midnight?
You made the dark
mine
I just burn in
sunlight.

I've lost a little
mind
You built me this
hell
Yet I still
find
You've loved me
quite well

What have you done
unto me?
This world’s too
cruel and cold.
We had a perfect
slavery.

This lack of chains
has gotten old.
You promised me
my sins would be sold.
I need this so.

Fare thee well
child
Stole my beloved
rage
Made a monster so
mild
It loves the
cage.

~~~~~~~~~~AEW~~~~~~~~~~

WARNING! If you click here, you will be subjected to...GASP....poetry! <-- More Poems

The Poetry Monster

Welcome to the Poetry Monster! Click on a poem title to view each poem. Dates listed are the date of first publication on this site. The ones with stars are my favorites. Most poems are updated periodically, whenever it catches my fancy. All poems are property of AEW, aka Mandala Reina.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Poem	Created	Updated
0106 Hours	26 May 2004	23 Jan 2007
10,000 Small Sacrifices	26 Oct 2004	26 Oct 2004
The A in Egypt*	26 May 2005	18 Jan 2007
Alpha Zeta	6 December 2005	23 Jan 2007
Alternate Universes	24 Apr 2006	18 Jan 2007
And I Am...	7 July 2005	7 July 2005
Avoiding the Gaze of the Boy Across the Aisle	16 Feb 2006	20 Jan 2007
Beg	20 Oct 2003	15 June 2005
Best Laid Plans	13 Oct 2004	18 Jan 2007
Body	6 Mar 2008	25 Mar 2008
Car Horn	6 Feb 2008	23 Apr 2010
Certain Things	23 Jul 2007	10 Oct 2008
Charcoal	17 Apr 2004	17 Apr 2004
Coffeehouse*	3 Oct 2004	3 Oct 2004
Connotation*	2 Aug 2005	2 Aug 2005
Curve	3 Oct 2004	3 Oct 2004
Dark-king, Light-king, Queens All	15 Dec 2005	17 Jan 2007
Dead Stars*	8 Sep 2005	17 Jan 2007
Death is Walking, Hand in Mine*	24 Oct 2005	20 Jan 2007
Devotion, Sublimated*	18 Apr 2005	20 Jan 2007
Drawn*	29 July 2005	17 Jan 2007
Elizabeth the Killer	24 Feb 2006	24 Feb 2006
Empty Mirrors	30 June 2005	30 June 2005
The Faded Sheaves	10 Apr 2007	18 Jun 2008
Fare Thee Well	28 Jan 2005	14 Apr 2005
Fear As A Bedfellow(Take II)*	3 May 2005	11 Aug 2005
Flung	2 July 2008	23 Apr 2010
Fruit	5 Sep 2006	19 Jan 2007
Gallows Love	14 Jan 2007	23Apr 2010
Games*	16 Aug 2005	23 Aug 2005	Photos
Ghosts*	29 Aug 2005	29 Aug 2005
Goddess	3 Oct 2004	3 Oct 2004
Grandmothers I Have Collected: I	26 May 2006	26 May 2006
Graveyard Blues	20 July 2005	20 July 2005
Gravity/ Grab At Me	14 Apr 2010	23 Apr 2010
Handmade Demons*	12 Sep 2005	12 Sep 2005
Headlights	26 Sep 2005	19 Jan 2007
Hebdomad	20 Apr 2007	20 Apr 2007
Holy Week*	24 Apr 2006	24 Apr 2006
Home	11 Nov 2008	30 Nov 2008
Hooked	2 Jan 2004	2 Jan 2004
Hurt	29 June 2005	29 June 2005
I Have This Gift to Bring	24 Dec 2004	24 Dec 2004
I Lie With My Hands*	26 July 2004	26 July 2004
I Know*	13 Oct 2004	13 Oct 2004
Jumbled	30 Sep 2003	30 Sep 2003
Keep Them Tight	26 Jan 2005	17 Nov 2005
Kerry Concedes the Blues	3 Nov 2004	3 Nov 2004
Knot	5 Sep 2007	20 Oct 2007
Left Socks	14 Apr 2008	20 Aug 2008
Licorice	1 July 2005	20 Jan 2007
Lights	31 Aug 2003	31 Aug 2003
List_serv: UNREADY	4 Sep 2003	19 Jan 2007
Little Pink Heart	28 Dec 2003	28 Dec 2003
Lunar Phases	23 Apr 2010	23 Apr 2010
Marred	4 Apr 2005	20 Jan 2007
Mind the Wild	18 Nov 2005	20 Jan 2007
My Name*	24 June 2005	23 Jan 2007
Navigation*	29 June 2005	29 June 2005
Neatly, like Modern Art	6 Dec 2005	23 Jan 2007
Now it is, then	21 Dec 2005	21 Dec 2005
New Orleans Lost	3 Apr 2006	3 Apr 2006
Of all things...*	22 July 2005	24 July 2005
Off Again	14 Feb 2006	14 Feb 2006
one two three four we can do it forever more	6 May 2006	6 May 2006
On Valentine's Day	9 Mar 2005	25 Mar 2005
Otra Vez*	3 Sep 2003	3 Sep 2003
Photographie*	15 July 2004	15 July 2004
Poems to Burn, Rhymes to Spare*	19 Aug 2005	30 Aug 2005
Pretty and...	26 Apr 2007	26 Apr 2007
Pretty Things	24 Apr 2005	11 Sep 2005
"Quiero" With Translation	2003	2003
Quiet	10 Oct 2005	5 Nov 2005
Reptile	26 July 2005	22 Mar 2006
Riesgo de Piel	23 Sep 2003	23 Sep 2003
"Riesgo de Piel" Translation	27 Sep 2003	27 Sep 2003
Ribbon*	6 Apr 2005	20 Jan 2007
Sad Hurricane	4 Jan 2009	13 Apr 2010
Scent Marking	9 Jun 2008	9 Jun 2008
Seasons*	26 Oct 2004	26 Oct 2004
Soft Box	2 Dec 2004	20 Jan 2007
Something they call...	3 Oct 2005	20 Jan 2007
Song of the Virginal Jezebel*	3 June 2005	1 Sep 2005
Stay the Night*	6 Aug 2005	6 Aug 2005
Steam*	27 Sep 2004	20 Jan 2007
Swift/Slow	13 Oct 2004	13 Oct 2004
Tango	23 Sep 2004	23 Sep 2004
"Tango" With Translation	1 Oct 2004	1 Oct 2004
Thigmonasty	9 May 2007	23 Apr 2010
This Heaviest of Freedoms*	15 June 2005	15 June 2005
Toast to the Senses	15 June 2006	15 June 2006
Today*	3 May 2005	5 May 2005
Too Much	29 Jan 2004	2004
Underneath	22 Aug 2005	22 Aug 2005
Unicorn Bones*	7 July 2005	20 Jan 2007
Unreadable	15 Oct 2003	2005
Vanished*	4 Nov 2004	9 Jan 2005
Vertebrae*	14 July 2005	14 July 2005
Wanting*	26 Oct 2004	26 Oct 2004
We	13 Oct 2004	13 Oct 2004
Well Met and Left*	29 Dec 2004	29 Dec 2004
Xanthous	16 June 2005	27 June 2006
You and Yours	8 Nov 2003	8 Nov 2003
Zephyr	27 Jan 2005	27 Jan 2005

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All I ask is that you don't try to pass my poetry off as someone else's or your own, or in some bizarre crime-fighting superhero scenario.

If you want to use any of my blog, let me know! I learned to share years ago...I'm pretty good at it...I think...Hey, give me that!

Also, if you have any questions or comments, e-mail me at will. Or, just, well, leave a Catcall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Steam

I turn the heat up
in the shower
the pipes roar
hard water soft water cold water
freshwater salt tears
nothing can clean this skin
I'm in

Your dirty words have gotten
trapped between the ridges
on my shriveled fingers
I should save the water;
nothing will make
your claws let go-
I let it flow.

I can feel it still
ugly parasite
crawling up inside
grasping, sweating, ramming, pulling
my edges raw
burns me the color of rust
and powerlust

There is no end to this cold.
you're shaking...I like it
now rage takes the reins
I cut the water
for it refuses to cut me
to be my leech
and bleed you out of me

Steam cloaks my face
holds me like a mother
rolls off my back
and pours from my nose
I am a dragon, breathing fire
this time
the bloodlust is mine

~~~~~~~~~~~AEW~~~~~~~~~~~

Didn't your mother ever warn you not to play with words? <-- More Poems