By: Linda M Crate

i am passionate and intense,
but also vulnerable;
people have always tried to
exploit my kindness
as if it were a weakness—

but i am no fool
i can see through their masks
even if i say nothing
doesn’t mean i cannot see
what’s going on,

and i don’t trust any of them
because they all have some
angle;
devils are good at pretending
they’re angels—

all i can say is that anyone
who tries to crucify me or tear me
from my dreams
will themselves be crucified or torn
because the beasts in me are sleeping

not dead,
and i will not be torn from heaven
to entertain anyone’s hell;
my dreams will burn through
every nightmare.