Slither (Notevember 2021, #30)

I put my thumb on the scales
Finding only
that it changed the weight of things not one bit
A new light
scarcely more burden than breath
but heavy as the taste on the air
And here you are
slim slender slight
slithering into my unconscious
No crack in the wall too tight a fit
No chink in the armor too dishonorable to abuse
Who will you transfix today
with your unwavering gaze?
Shedding your skin as required
and twisting into unholy shapes
until your fangs sink deep indeed
An obvious warning
when you are coiled up
They are still drawn to you
iron to magnet
I have seen it enough times to know the outcome
by inductive reasoning
Your electricity is alluring
but it can kill
And they stick their tongues out
expecting the tingle of a small shock
and getting instead a coup de grâce
delivered without mercy
Then you slink away slowly
sliding god knows where
until next time –
there always is a next time
Leaving me to ponder
who was holding the other end of the scales down
and if you were holding them down, too.