and finally i will be the villain
you were the monster
with no name whose
sharp teeth ripped to ribbons
every lock and key holding back
my monsters;
when they saw you for the devil you were
there wasn't going to be a prayer that
could save you—
thought your lust and your darkness
could destroy me,
but you were never the predator;
darling,
you gave yourself too much credit—
i am no one's prey,
and i will spill your blood upon the autumn
leaves where we first met and delight when
your name is no longer a curse to me or my heart;
and finally i will be the villain you said i was.
sneak attack
he waited in the secret
darkness hidden in the
bosom of the day where
no one suspected he
might arrive,
the mythology worked in
his favor and whispered to them
a safety that didn't exist;
she wasn't looking behind her
when she entered into his wood
as she sat down next to the tree
nose deep in a book without paying
heed to much of anything
it was then that he made his way to her—
she noticed all too late when her honey sweet
blood was upon his tongue, that she was in danger;
she went quietly and without much fight falling
from his arms into the leaves and the vampire left her
there with her book—a knowledge that would evade
her all too eager mind.
Linda M. Crate's poetry, short stories, articles, and reviews have been published in a myriad of magazines both online and in print. She has ten published chapbooks, the latest being Hecate's Child (Alien Buddha Publishing, November 2021), and three micro-chapbooks. Her first taste of the macabre was the animated Beetlejuice, but her first taste of horror was in the short stories of Edgar Allan Poe which she enjoyed. Her favorite of his works being The Raven.