Trigger Warning
Dark angels ascend from Dante’s seventh circle—
manics who composed their anguish
before resolutely taking their lives—
toward floating celestial orbs ablaze
transforming into recognizable shapes
wingless birds, snowflake fingerprints,
blue graffiti smudges, bloodless wounds,
flowers so black they never pollinate
setting water afire with their gazes—
waiting for prey to marvel and investigate,
swooping down to push them closer
until they stumble at the precipices
and fall, fall, fall through silent portals,
becoming ensnared by Hell’s master