Red Like Her Name

by Karen M. Raymond-Hart

Darkness of my / our mind
shattered 
broken
gleaming with eyes
and reflections

pieces do not fit
anymore

can I trust
this collection
of myself

but we have
betrayed
each other / ourselves / myself

and we
hate
fear
want retribution
blood

if we take it
we all die

some of us want to
some of us don't
for some of us
it depends on the day

...so
one of us
wishes for any small thing
to torture her / us / me
even if she can't die

she lies in wait 
springing
from ambush we can never prevent
(because she is us)

...pictures of blood
violence
pain

Red like her name

haunt us

we are possessed
only by ourselves

demons / saints
or just survival mechanisms

Red nightmares
chidren's screams
fear in the dark

and always...
the eyes look out of Darkness
of my / our mind

02/13/96