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Night Flower
by TigerLily Saturday, May 15 2010, 11:44am
international / prose/poetry / literature

Gary Oldman as Dracula

I wish
at times
I could fold in on myself
like a flower closing its petals for the night,
wrapping itself up, protecting its heart
from the insensitivities that surround it
(by day)
and the malevolent forces
that lurk in the night.

If only I could hide
from the consequences of my actions
and retreat from
the pain I feel after having unintentionally
caused pain in another.

I should never have been let loose
on an unsuspecting, fragile world
where innocence and sensitivity fall prey
to rampaging brutes like me.

But I have never been able to
contract or retreat into morbidity or melancholia.
I am left exposed to the elements
to feel the exquisite hurt and pain,
returned to me in triple proportion,
from having hurt those for whom I have deep affection.

I have no right
-- regardless of good intentions --
to inflict
pain or even discomfort on another soul.
No right to cause the slightest mental perturbation.

What type of star-spangled monster am I becoming?