Angel (graceless)

I really just wanted to post my monologue on angels because I enjoyed creating this piece. It is in the POV of a demon. (I’m also thinking of using this piece for the September’s coffee house theme, Glow.)

They fall from heaven hungry. Their voices recall bleeding to death without wound and starch- white lilies placed in windowsills. Be afraid, for they are everywhere unseen, a cathedral of mirrored walls with no reflections. Unholy mouths will drawl their names in offering and silence will resound as an answer. Do not be fooled; there is threat within the tranquility. You think of soft pink cheeks and ivory and yearning light- all I can see is the red spit and unused bibles below hotel beds. Heaven’s holiness hits like damp cotton sheets hung from laundry lines, but can catch your lungs full of ichor all the same. You’ve never tasted the carnage they create; it stills burns on my tongue like confession, like prayer. Listen well when I say there are horns beneath their halos and supernovas writhing within their stars. You wonder if the warm glow of their god-like skin is the sun, not realizing it’s the rising of flames. Paradoxical promises lie in the wings. Be careful not to ruffle their feathers, otherwise you could end up in ash.

This piece was really fun for me to make becaue I love writing about things I do not understand, one of them being the existential matter of angelic forces. I truly think that if angels are real, this is how they would be shown, or should be. So many people hear about things they do not understand and do even challenge the fact that not everyone knows what they are talking about most of the time. I mean, angels might just be mythical creatures nonexistent in the real world, but this does not mean all angels have to follow the suit of conformity. Dark, forboding, chaotic; this is what I think of when I hear angel. I believe heaven and hell are a lot closer than we at first realize, demons and angels one and the same. That’s kind of what I wanted to represent in this- unforgiving order heightened by uncontrollable power, overwhelming and soft as well.  Angels are heavenly, but sometimes I think we only see heaven as good and pure when in reality we do not know. I liked taking this monologue from the POV of a demon because the sides are sort of flipped, roles changed.

 

 

Author: Katherine Westbrook

Kate. Too cool for school.

3 thoughts on “Angel (graceless)”

  1. This is really good. When you first read it in class, I didn’t really understand it that well. After reading it a few times on here, though, I feel like I might understand it better. But given your comment in the last paragraph saying, “..I love writing about things I do not understand,” I don’t know if it was meant to be understood because you don’t really know yourself. Regardless, I still liked the description you gave of the angels. And I love these two lines, “They fall from heaven hungry,” and “Listen well when I say there are horns beneath their halos and supernovas writhing within their stars.” I feel like I kind of better understand why you used supernovas. Supernovas are stars exploding and so there is destruction and explosion waiting within their shiny, star appearance that is seen. Maybe? No matter what you meant by that, it’s a strong piece. Good job!

  2. Your description gave me chills, the thought that angels are really in a way demons just seems so odd and beyond anything that i would have thought of. It adds this dynamic and more character to the typical everyday holy angels majority believe in.

  3. I love your creativity in twisting in the prompt, shifting the focus from angels and their stereotype to be perfect to their counterparts and their opinion of them. I also enjoy how you made the angels the antagonist in the story. I really enjoy your writing, especially when you talk about religion, which you seem really passionate about.

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