Exponents

Loose bricks. The wall trembles. Against the echo. Of absent tears. Soft stitches pull the blankets close to her thighs. As she reaches for the trigger on dead demons. Just a stairway. A cellar. The bottles ripe with fermented faces. The strays on the moon's blade. The rest of us too lost to notice. The bad men.

The hysterics of bored girls in their mother's beds. Prying the bitten fruit from strong hands. The purple hiss of dying snakes. The frailty of their venom. As we bathe in various poisons.

Red apples on the tongue. Olive branches on the spine. Rotting wood under her feet. As she paces. Not deciding. Not caring if she ever will. choose. life or otherwise.

This place. Of hidden bruises. And harmless monsters. This forbidden Eden. Where I invest everything in my own weakness. It always finds me when I want to be lost.

It's too far. It's too close. Nothing to differentiate. I took the stairs. Though the elevator was free. I wanted to experience the path. It always rains. It never stops. The doors opened. I ran. As fast as I could. I fell down. Unfamiliar with the terrain.

I stayed there. I had no reason to get up.