let’s make a deal

beasties of my soul
   why are you
screaming?

why do you
   ambush me at
      night when i am
      naked & alone
   to roast my white
      bones over your
   ashen
fires?

your claws
   scratch on the in
      side of my
   brain & your crow
      bars split my
skull.

   sinews cramp at
      the thought of your
   thorny chains threaded
      through the hollows of
   my
spine.

what do you want of
   my soul? you, who
      have brandished my
   fuming head again &
      again upon your
pikes.

dark of my soul, my
   life & my death are
      yours. you come &
   go with my karma like
      the smell of my
past.   

you are my shadow,
   my demon, my
      lover & my
tao.

   what can i know of
      passion if i do not em
   brace you as my
self?

beasties of my soul––
   why am i struggling to
      escape your
   darkness, when i should be
      kissing
you?

let’s make a bargain.
   you may have what
      you want if you
   trust me.

you, who have tasted my
   blood, who swim in my
      veins, let me wel
   come you into my
heart.