Horns by Valerie Parente

I used to wear a halo,
now I wear horns,
it wasn’t my intention,
until I was scorned,
leaving the garden,
where roses have thorns,
and I didn’t come out,
unscathed from the storm,
when the sky cleared,
I was weathered and worn,
and the horns began to sprout,
from the temples I adorned.

It wasn’t immediate,
it came from hindsight,
for ten months I went,
trying to rationalize,
dissecting where and how,
I could be the bad guy,
then the news broke,
that I was in the right,
but I still wear these horns,
they comfort me at night,
’cause I can be the demon,
instead of a damsel in demise.

The townsfolk are skeptical,
for whom I vouch for,
I understand the fright,
but I’m better than before,
the uncertainty is gone,
I am no longer unsure,
there is no insecurity,
I am no longer unmoored,
if he hurts me again,
it will hurt him a hell of a lot more,
the worst already came for me,
but then I grew these horns.

– Valerie Parente (3-29-2021)