To Love A Monster

This heartbreak—

I saw it coming.

Still, I placed my heart

in your open palms,

though it begged me not to.

I saw the blood in your creases—

ghosts of past lovers,

victims whispering to me,

pleading: run while you still can.

But something merciless lives inside me—

a wild, persistent hope

that I could change a monster

into a lover.

My worth clings to

the impossibility of your approval.

Why do I need the monster to love me?

He does not even love himself.

To crave love from the monster

is to stand before a mirror,

and find a monster staring back.

*First published in The Walnut Branch (Vol. 4, 2025), titled "Seeking What I Am”