pretty boy, baby girl

pretty boy, licks his lips and
lets his eyes undress baby girl
says “i’ll love you forever”
says “you’ll never be able to get rid of me”
says “i could just eat you right up”
baby girl, hears the warnings,
ignores them, falls in love with
pretty boy, lets
his pretty words fill her ears, looks at
pretty boy through rosy glasses,
misses all
the red flags
pretty boy, lures baby girl to love him,
whispers sweet things to her, leads her
to believe that nobody but him
will ever love her the same way, promises
anything she could ever want, even
the stars themselves
baby girl, gets trapped in a web
of lies spun by pretty boy, finds
herself in too deep, can’t
even see the sky anymore
pretty boy, traps baby girl, doesn’t
let her go, keeps
drawing her towards him, finally
shows his true colors in the bruises
blooming on baby girl’s skin
baby girl, tries to leave pretty boy, gets
caught trying to find help, gets
a reminder that she
can never leave
pretty boy, drunk on power, now
more wolf than human, hungry for
the blood of
little red riding hood and all
the girls who came before and
after her
baby girl, runs through the woods, but
these aren’t woods, this
is the city, and there isn’t just
one wolf, there are more than
she ever dreamed there could be
pretty boy, catches baby girl, and right

before he swallows her whole
says “i told you you’ll never be able to leave me”
grins with
a mouth of teeth
too sharp to be human.

By Jack Verhagen

Biography:

Jack Verhagen is a 17-year-old poet from the sunny state of California. She enjoys writing and skateboarding, as well as frequenting any coffee shop that can be found in the area. She hopes to be able to compile a chapbook of her poetry in the near future, and looks forward to her future growth as a writer.