Ugly girls, of a certain type,
are ripe with potential,
the overshot teeth, nose
like a squashed muffin, voice
like a scratchy woodwind or harsh
like a tympani, the lack
of any kind of obvious grace
Fools can't see
behind the pimples and the sour breath
the power coiled, lost, forgotten,
ready for your touch,
ready to be coaxed, to bloom, to parade
its brief hour in the unaccustomed air
to flourish, to sprout, delicate and sweet
a gift most pleasing to Belial, Moloch, Samael:
it's the adoration that come pouring out,
along with all the blood.
Samantha Henderson lives in Southern California with her family and various animals. Her poetry and fiction can be seen in Strange Horizons, Chizine, Lone Star Stories, Star*Line, and Abyss and Apex. The word "cherry" immediately makes her think of "There is a Garden in her Face," by Thomas Campion.