I knew where to find you,

Though my mind refused to process

That possibility as a fact.

You couldn’t have gone

Into that snare.

How could you, love,

Have walked straight

Into that thicket

Where there was sure

To be a dead end?

Tangled in his deceiving web,

You willingly wandered in,

Now what can I make of this

Senseless act?

Nonetheless, I ran inside

The room of mirrors

Like she said.

And truly,

Shrill screams met me

At the entrance.

The hunter’s blatant demands

Echoed everywhere,

His blood-lustful grin

Stretched across every wall.

I fix my sight

On your mouth, pulled into a ghoulish moan

Of endless pain.

“I’ll make it go away.”

Intoxicating roses

Choke up my respiration

Evidence of my failure

Splattered across the floor

If you don’t die by the hand of the hunter,

You will by my own.

How can I resurface

When I am so far deep

In my own red river?

O, sweet melody

Awaken me

To your lively face.