Man With The Crooked Mask

Man With The Crooked Mask
© Surazeus
2025 04 29

Befuddled by distinguished prayer of fear, 
uttered by tall man with the crooked mask, 
the stone angel, blazing with timeless truth, 
mumbles half-spell of disconsolate joy 
to divert his attention from the mirror 
that reveals our fates our choices design. 

Choosing to exit the bookstore intact, 
despite finding the Scroll of Faithfulness, 
the stone angel, bursting white butterflies, 
laughs bright as chimes that ring at opened doors, 
and slips through shadow of ardent disdain 
to briskly pace down Starlight Boulevard. 

Curious about why some children grow 
devilish despite their happy childhoods, 
the stone angel, radiating romance songs, 
springs swifter than the cheetah to escape 
man with the crooked mask who tries to steal 
graceful beauty of her arrogant heart. 

Snatched by groping hands of the wolfish man 
who pushes her against the alley wall, 
the stone angel, throbbing shark energy, 
respectfully requests that he unhand 
her voluptuous soul so she can go free, 
but he informs her she will bear his child. 

Breathing martial spirit of Artemis 
with intense attention to self-control, 
the stone angel, winding starlight in coils 
of lithe acrobatics, crouches and strikes 
with swift assertion of point-precise kicks 
that crack his legs and force him to his knees. 

Smiling sweetly at his astonished face 
through exposition of his toxic rage, 
the stone angel, taut with righteous respect, 
kicks his face with blow of justice in law, 
then strides away as he falls on his back 
and leaves him twitching in anguish of fear. 

Striding boldly into library hall 
to study at her secret cubicle, 
the stone angel, buzzing with frantic faith, 
trembles with exhaustion of mute despair, 
and cries quietly into her bruised hands, 
then drinks water and breathes to meditate. 

Assembling fragments of her scattered soul 
in puzzle that resembles her fraught life, 
the stone angel, acquainted with the night, 
attends to project for art history class 
in which she analyzes psychic tropes 
that Mary represents in sacred icons.