Crimson Drenched Cape

In the looking glass    
where a naive, innocent young girl once stood  
A strong, fierce warrior of a young lady    
reflects back  
Time and circumstance have worn her face,    
her aura, her spirit..  
into an unfamiliar manifestation    
transitioning from hunted    
to huntress    
   
Lightly colored locks once held in pigtails by    
red ribbons    
replaced by straightened disheveled tresses  
as black as midnight    
icey eyes full of idealism and day dreams    
now flash crimson red    
after having lived through grisly nightmares  
at the hands of slyful, wily, deceptive beasts  
   
Picnic baskets filled with treats and sweet love    
Tossed to the side -useless wastes of time    
Instead, fastening a rifle to her back,    
with various blades carried upon her belt    
of vengeance and distrust  
   
Heart blackened by lies, deceit, and relentless unforgivable betrayals  
Draped in pain and angst    
scarlet hues hide the bloody stains  upon her cape    
   
She feels nothing,    
a deep empty soul,    
void of emotions    
sleeping peacefully and comfortably on top a bed dressed with blankets made of wolf pelts.    
   
It wasn’t about revenge  
she just wanted what was hers    
yet wise enough to know    
what was taken from her    
could never be replaced  
   
They trampled all over her heart    
like careless fools  
Coming and going as they pleased    
forcing her to be a doormat to their  needs    
   
Despite her many pleas...    
they continued to strip her of her innocence  
tearing the flesh from her heart piece by piece    
   
So she simply wanted what was owed to her    
-their intact, beating hearts.    
   
Each heart impaled upon an ornate dagger and displayed in the window,    
a warming for all to heed  
   
arranged not as trophies    
but in honor of who she once was    
before they made her into the monster she had become...    
   
With an empty dagger  remaining at the end of the window    
-taunting....  
Inviting any sucker foolish enough to assume her bark is worse than her bite