brave enough to enter then go
away white, drained, and maddened by
this invisible leprosy.

I am too contagious—
tread lightly in my hypocaust,
inviting and fearsome.
You will flee when the sulphur
escapes.

Beware the lash of my scorpion tongue.
Venom sounds from all sides and
I will not be sucked out so easily.

Thigmotaxis expands into obsidian
afterbirth; crystals burst and break until
I am, once more,
impenetrable.
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