By: Linda M Crate

you want empathy,
compassion, respect, honor,
and the world;
everything
for free—
you want me to crucify
myself
because you both fear and loathe
my power and the beauty
of my dreams
because they can cut apart the darkness
you love so well,
but i will always fight against
the nightmares; the darkness, and the
monsters of this world—
i will never give
sympathy to evil
because there’s nothing
empathetic in a soul that is cruel to others
for it’s own gain,
and i’m so tired of people being ugly to one another;
sick of you being disgusting to me, too—
i will be the explosion of light
that burns you away
until not even the moon, sun, or stars
can remember your name.