Possessed

Lord have mercy on my son for he is a lunatic, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire and ofttimes into the water.
—Matthew 17:15

The devil is a man, not unlike 

a father who has his faults. 

He can’t help but take hold 

beneath the blue flame of vein and skin. 

He will not be moved, divided from the body 

he has made his own image.

Once in fire to forge a dagger, 

Once in water to still this breath, 

Yet the stink of life lingers.

We cannot kill what we do not own, 

fighting for repossession, dying 

to save the self, to be set free. 

There is always a man waiting, our father, 

wanting the way a father wants: 

to cast, to reel, fisher of men.

Next
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

How the State Failed Noelia Castillo

Itxu Díaz

On March 26, Noelia Castillo, a twenty-five-year-old Spanish woman, was killed by her doctors at her own…

The Mind’s Profane and Sacred Loves

Algis Valiunas

The teachers you have make all the difference in your life. That they happened to come into…

History’s Pro Tips on Iran

Francis X. Maier

Nothing in human experience compares to the wars of the last 120 years. Their scope has grown…