"A Great and Terrible Beauty" by Victoria Lia Yu

The dark night, as oil and coal,

The pale maiden like a porcelain doll.

She sat at the riverside,

Waiting waiting,

For her lover to appear, to carry her away.

And in the distance, as the clock striked twelve,

The thumping of hooves, came faint but clear.

Her golden locks, like the harvested wheat,

Blew in the wind to the hooves¡¯ beat.

On the stallion, her lover came,

Eyes like sapphires, and lips so enticing.

For his gaze rested only on her,

And nothing else.

They sat together, tangled among robes and shawls,

Watching the stars as they twinkled.

With a hand in silky hair she longed to touch,

She asked, Do you love me?

Of course, my eyes hold only you.

Giggling, resting her head against his shoulder,

She felt his warm touch around her waist.

If you love me, prove it.

Without a word,

He pushed her down,

Leaning above,

Panting hard.

As you wish.

He lowered a hand to the small of her back,

The other, gentlely in her hair.

Lips locked, she could not breathe,

She didn¡¯t care, for she held him dear.

Slowly and softly,

Her mind was unclear.

She could no longer tell if he was still there,

Warm liquid gushed from inside.

Stunned and shocked, she twitched in pain,

Gasping harshing like her life counted on it.

A sudden prick, she felt like a wreck

Two holes were on her delicate neck.

You asked for love, here it is.

 Now you truly are mine.

His sapphire eyes turned ruby red,

The color of blood, the color of their lust.

She turned to the river,

Terror struck with the blood,

And in the river she shrieked,

For she no longer knew the girl it showed.

Eyes that glowed silver like the moon,

Lips, red as his eyes, like the bloody white rose she held,

Her skin as pale as it was,

Translucent like the moon itself.

Like this rose you are beautiful, so fragile and lovely, he said.

Before she could utter a protest,

His teeth dug deep down her throat,

Draining her of all mortality.

She felt nothing, saw nothing,

but the crushed rose in her hands.

Like that bloody white rose,

Once pure and untouched,

Now tainted and formidable,

For that is what is means to be

A great and terrible beauty.