the villain’s monologue

We spit

The cherry pit

Upon the sidewalk.

We turn

Away from what we need to learn

Absolutely.

And power,

That thing you want more than a lover,

Corrupts you, darling.

I should know,

I learned to sow

The seeds of strength

In the rain.

Here, pain,

Come find the weak,

The sufferer in the desert.

He’s a pest.

A stain on my hands

Drying underneath my fingernails.

The very bane of my existence,

Of yours,

Of theirs.

We all share a common enemy, don’t we?

So why—why—

Would you fight the high

Of destroying what once stood in your way?