White flowers, 
White dress, 
White beads, 
White church 

The organs hum 
A marching song 
For me, covered in pearls,
With a paper thin veil in my hair. 

A boy, covered in shiny black, 
Little freckles, 
Bright smile, 
Tall and skinny, 
Shy and sweet. 

He is yellow roses 
And daisies, 
And sunshine 
On a rainy day. 

He is a sheep in a gentle herd 
The lamp light on my desk 
A teddy bear, 
A dandelion. 

My mother adores him, 
My father respects him, 
My brother and sister, 
They love him to bits. 

My friends, they whisper, 
“How lucky are you?” 
And squeal when we show off 
Our tiny diamond rings. 

My aunts, they fuss and fidget, 
They style my hair, 
They paint my lips and cheeks, 
And urge me down the aisle. 

Behind my white veil 
Behind my wide smile, 
What that boy doesn’t see, 
What none of them see, 

Is the girl in the red coat 
The girl with the scarf
The girl with the smirk 
Soaked in blood, bathed in wine
A rat in a street alley. 

Red coat, 
Black scarf, 
Red cheeks, 
Black boots. 

The wind in my hair, 
On a rooftop, 
Standing on the edge, 
Laughing, she swaggers past me, 
Kisses me and says, “You’re mine.” 

She is a red rose

On fire

And the rain that ruins a sunny day. 
She is the wolf in a sea of sheep,
The refrigerator glow at midnight 
When I can’t sleep, 

A calculating creature, a thorn. 

She is my dream 
My wildest dream, 
What I want, 
Behind that veil,
What no one could ever see. 
That stunning, murderous creature

The gorgeous villain, 
The lovely nightmare,
The flower my mother
Would cut from her garden.

She’s my star at night, 
She’s the hunter of my monsters, 
The most wonderful dream, 
And the keeper of my secrets.

But Wedding Day arrives, 
Like they always said it would,
And my yellow rose 
Stands at the altar. 

He kisses me 
I smell daisies. 
But, I’m an aconite flower, 
Searching for that burning red rose.

Forever running away, I ran and I ran, 
But I couldn’t catch my breath.
And the rooftops faded from view
As I slipped and fell 
Down to the cold stone street.

Where my mother and father
And brother and sister
And giggling aunties and uncles
Were waiting with that tall, skinny boy.

So they pin up my hair
And stain both my cheeks
And shove me towards my daisy.
The smell of smoke begins to fade,
The fiery red sun begins to dull.

And it seems as though Wedding Day arrived after all.