Beast

This way danger lies!

The beast, not vanquished,

But cowed into brief submission,

Lies asleep.

Not of flesh and blood, but

Vaporous and far more

Perilous to those who would

Venture near,

It waits. It waits and patiently,

It bides its time, until the moment

Comes to rear its fearsome

Foulsome head.

I will be swallowed whole,

In vengeance for my sin,

My foolhardy spell, cast

To grant me

Peace. That magic, alas,

Was too impermanent and

I, too sure of myself, must

Accept my

Fate. In penance for my

Folly, I will never know

Whether I have slid into

The belly

Of the beast, or the beast

Is somehow deep within

My being, hid, unchecked,

Inside me.