They Monster They Saw

All around town, they feared him for his scars,
His claws, his shadowed eyes.
They labeled him a monster
All before they knew his heart.

Then came a gentle voice
A man with a soft smile, a friendly face
But they called him “good” because he 
Looked the part
Almost perfect to society.

People held doors for the smiling man.
People avoided rooms the monster stood in.

For some reason, a nice face and gentle voice, 
Is enough to make strangers trust you.

They shook his hand.
They invited him inside.
No one noticed how easily he lied.

No one saw the things he did
When nobody was around to judge him.

One night, a child went out to play, 
Soon to be on the news of a missing child.

The town worried with emotions,
They looked for hours.

The smiling man found her first.

He noticed her crying beneath a tree, 
Rain pouring, she was all alone.
Cold and afraid.

He could have helped her, and take her back home to safety
Instead, he made the decision, smiled, and turned his back.

The monster found her next.
She was frightened when she saw him.

He stopped, he knew that scream.
Almost engraved in his mind, he had heard it his entire life.

Still, he took off his coat
And placed it around her shoulders.

Soon carried her back toward town, even as she trembled in his arms.

When the townspeople saw them, they grabbed their weapons.

The monster carefully placed the girl down.

“He helped me,” she wept.

No one made a sound or movement.

The smiling man stood among them, showing off the same beautiful smile.

The monster looked at him.

For the first time, the smiling man thought
He looked like exactly what he was.
And the monster did too.

One was beautiful
With something rotten underneath.

The other was frightening
With something gentle inside.

Maybe creatures aren’t always born with claws.
Some grow them where no one can see.

And the most frightening about evil is that sometimes–
It can be deceiving, and look completely human.

Many that night learned,
Some monsters wear claws
But still choose kindness.

Some monsters wear smiles
While hiding evil inside.