doin' time

i have seen the devil's eyes

three times now

each time darker

each time closer

but the last-

the last time i met them

i was naked in the bed of someone

whose name i had already forgotten

the air was thick, sweat-laced,

holy in its desecration

the lights were off

the curtains pulled tight like hands

over a mouth

something was waiting

something old

and then they came

not in smoke, not in flame

no sulfur, no scream

just stillness-

and hunger dressed in skin

their eyes were deep, polished black

like something that had swallowed

every prayer ever uttered

and found them sweet

they touched me like scripture,

read me aloud with reverent fingers,

like they knew where all the ache lived

and had returned to claim it

lucifer-

if that's the name they still wear-

took me apart slowly

a hymn unwrapped

a wound remembered

and when our eyes met,

i saw not damnation-

but recognition

i was blinded

i was drunk on the gravity of their gaze

i kissed them like confession

my mouth pressed to theirs

like a seal breaking

every part of me trembled

not from fear

but from knowing

they consumed me

not like a beast-

but like a lover who had been patient

for centuries

and when it was over-

i whispered,

"you're evil."

not a protest

not a plea

but a truth offered like roses on an altar

evil, ornery, scandalous evil

not the villain in a sermon,

but the god the saints 

dare not speak of

and they smiled,

a slow, curling thing 

that burned like silk 

catching flame

as if to say-

"wasn't it beautiful?"