Face Of A Monster

       My father has the face 

       of a monster. 

<sup>So he grins and smiles 
his smooth 
and dull teeth 
as if to say, Do you see? 
No fangs. 

An upward tug of his lips, 
a flash of good humor, 
and the monster melts away. 
It was a shadow. Don't you see?
This man is charming.

Forget I am a monster 
his smile says. 
It transforms his face, 
it does not change the man.

I have my father's face, 
I do not have his heart. 
Mine bleeds, and so suddenly 
my smile fades and is gone.
All they see is my face,
and what my father gave to me.

There goes a monster. 
Don't go near her, 
there goes a beast. 

I smile and I reap kindness 
from the hands of strangers. 
My smile falls away, 
and my sister does not know me.

You so close to my heart, 
do you not feel it bleed?

But I have the face of a monster, 
and my father gave it to me.</sup>