Dancing with the devil.
we waltzed across the floor

Past the spot the band was playing,
through the open door

The darkness called to him by name,
he answered with a smile

And looked at me and said: “This way,
damnations forked turnstile”

With one step back, I bid him true,
to leave me on my way

The voices growing louder still,
of those past gone astray

He stopped and said: “You now must jump,
this ledge all sinner’s pass”

And pointed down to the abyss,
the inferno’s deep morass

He looked away, his head was down,
while shouting dark and vile

A chant so foul, demonic born,
my soul at once beguiled

Before he stopped, I took both hands,
and pushed him from behind

And watched him fall into the void,
among his liken kind

Then walking back toward the dance,
I heard the music play

His words to music ringing out,
my spirit disarrayed

Once back inside I looked around,
and watched the dancers flee

And knew at once the way they ran
—that devil now was me

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2017)