The boy says
“I love you.” and you say
“No.” because this
is a dream and
you have teeth and claws
and blood and scales
and no one ever falls in love
with the monster unless
the monster turns out to be a prince.

You are not a prince.

You will never be the prince.

You wake up and
everyone around you is making love
except for you
because you are alone and you
are a monster and
no one makes love to monsters.
You would scrape their skin to the bone
and leave behind their husk.

You dream of being a monster
because you are.

No.
You dream of being a thief
because you wish you could-
because you would like to steal hearts.

Missing hearts are worth a heavy sum
but the wealth you want is not gold.
You want them to pay the ransom in love
because you are a monster
and monsters do not know any other way
to get that which they desire
and all you have ever wanted
is a hand to hold in yours
and a mouth to call to in the night.