Rage is a Red Beast

When people talk of anger

They talk of “seeing red”

Red like blood

Blood that boils with fury

And bubbles up

Out of your lips

In shouted expletives that you regret

Red like fire

Fire that burns in your belly

Until you explode

With the heat of a thousand dying stars

But when I get angry

My wrath is not a fire

It is not boiling blood

My rage is a red beast

That sits on my shoulder

And whispers in my ear

Putting thoughts in my head

And sometimes the beast

All claws and crimson fur

It pries open my mouth

Climbs down my throat

And squeezes my heart until it bursts