MONSTER

he’s got battlefields in his bones; his smiles are made of thunder – blinding, booming, brilliant. son of a king, king of the wars, war of a world, world on his heart she’s got battlefields in her mind; strategy maps unfolding on her skin the way other girls have stars and seas. crown on her head, head full of wars, wars for the wise, wise till the end ares looks up and an empire falls – castles bleeding out; soldier hearts blood-soaked and beat-beat-beating to the rhythm of the wardrums as they pound out a story of death. athena looks up and a castle rises – empires forged anew from victory born out of hard truths and true lies; soldiers clutching olive branches and white flags rising with the sun. war and wisdom; peace and life; press your humming pulse to mine; war stories are written by the victors.

ares wears a helmet and carries a gun. he doesn’t want to fight anymore, but he’s not strong enough to stay away. he fires, watches as blood sprays forward.some things, he thinks, never change.

I don’t go looking for war. War goes looking for me. I am destruction before I am conquest.

last night i dreamed that i touched you; it hurt, your skin covered in thistles. you said - see, i told you this would be no good, i told you i am pain - but when i let go i stared down at my bleeding palms and they had stopped shaking. i dreamt that i loved you, and i woke up and it was still true; i’ll curl my fingers over the thorns jutting out from your hips, i’ll slice myself open, if you’ll kiss me and wear down the rock in my throat. i prayed to you, and in my dreams you answered, told me i was delusional, reckless, but you came to me anyway and i put your hands sharp like knives on my chest and pleaded, pleaded for you to slow my heart down, just for a moment. kiss me again, let me taste the blood, i prayed for you and you came, you came, let me taste you again.

Rome’s fingerprints are running down your back; I want to build you an empire that forgets to collapse.

Why is blood red? There is a scientific answer, but it is a cold one. Cold like ice. Hard like steel. Unfeeling. It reflects nothing of the blood itself. Blood, which is — Warm, like fire. Fluid, like water. Red, like anger. Passion. Fury. Love. Emotion. Yes, that is why. It is the emotion of the body, the language of the soul, the tears of the flesh, of the heart. For when you strike it cruelly enough, it weeps, it cries, it burns. A burn that screams: ‘YOU ARE ALIVE,’ and demands you stay that way.

Do you know another word for peace, General? It is not tranquility or calmness. Very rarely is it harmony or order. Do you know another word for peace? War.

Baby, I have no idea how this will end. Maybe the equator will fall like a hula hoop from the Earth’s hips And our mouths will freeze mid-kiss on our 80th anniversary. Or maybe tomorrow my absolute insanity Combined with the absolute obstacle course of your communication skills Will leave us like a love letter In a landfill. But whatever However Whenever this ends I want you to know That right now I love you forever.

And so here it is: I love you. It’s as plain and simple and as horribly complex as that. It’s as beautiful as that, too. But this isn’t a love poem; this is the truth. I love you with every fiber of my god damn being. There isn’t a trace of my body that doesn’t crave you. When you touch me, something lights up inside of me. It’s as if my body sighs in relief and says “oh there you are, I’ve been waiting for you to return.” Because my body is as much yours as it is mine. Because it feels like home in your arms. We fit together so perfectly as if our souls are intertwined as if the universe would do anything to keep us together. I would do anything to keep us together. I trust you with my entire being. There is not one atom in my body that wouldn’t give itself entirely to you. My love for you consumes me and all I know how to do is touch you and kiss you and love you. And I will never stop loving you. It’s hard to imagine a version of myself that isn’t irrevocably in love with you. I don’t want to picture that, anyways. What I do want to picture is you and me together for years to come. What I do want to picture is us loving each other until we are only strong enough to hold each other’s wrinkly hands. Do you understand? You are the one I want for the rest of my life. You are the one I will love until I am only a skeleton and there is nothing left of me. It’s you. It will always be wonderful, charming you.

ares wears a helmet and carries a gun. he doesn’t want to fight anymore, but he’s not strong enough to stay away.