Mandrake Root

It is said that darkness provides the cover needed to be our true selves.

There is truth in that. In the grace of dark cover, away from curious eyes, we are often granted the bravery necessary to acknowledge our more wicked sides.

But it is not enough.

Because it is only when you are seen as your most wicked self that it becomes something real. Something not just awknowledged, but embraced.

Listen.

You are most honest when held by a gaze that doesn’t judge. Under the eyes of someone who accepts all parts of you, you can unfurl, reaching towards truth and allow your walls to lower. It is there that you find fertile soil to let your hungers grow.

And I – I am large enough of self to provide the shade you need to be brave. I am confident enough to let the vines find purchase about my limbs.

And I am strong enough to help you nurture that garden that I might pluck the fruit from the vines, sink my teeth into plump curves, and savor your secret self.

let us

Let us talk of hunger.

Share our ideals of what constitute a fine meal. The placement of the instruments which will elevate our feast from sustenance to experience.

Let us sit, here, and discuss the shape and size of our hunger.

Let us.

Let me.

Invite me in. Show me the places your hunger has carved inside of you. The artful erosion of practicality giving way to baser nature. Let me run my fingers along the smooth surfaces of the softer considerations: Your first kiss. Cuddling in a tent. Let me brush my hand over the sharper edges, the one’s that make you bleed when pressed against. How it feels to have a hand braced along your throat, holding you in place, holding you in.

Let me lick the remnants of your restraint from your fingertips.

Let me show you.

Let me re-arrange your pieces until there is enough space for us to feed.

Let me introduce you to my wolf.

Ari

in the shadow of a minotaur

I came across a supposition.

    that the difference between a maze and a labyrinth

    is a matter of the heart.

you can get lost in a maze.

    but in a labyrinth

 so long as you go forward,

          you will find the center

if we agree with this supposition

then we must follow the red threaded question it holds

is your heart a maze

   holding captive 

      poor adventurers

incapable of solving it’s mystery

or

a labyrinth

  home to just

        the one

who put their hand to the wall

   closed their eyes

       and walked