Tempter's Visit (a sonnet)
Nighttide hisses malice across the wind
And Blackness himself creepeth o'er the sill
"I recall t' thee that thou greatly sinned
And thou hast once more chosen thine own will;
Despite thy baptized mark of symboled cross
And loathful beads pressed in thine guilty hands,
Thine plaintive pleas please none; thou gain but loss;
So grieve not against deep desire's demands.
Doth thou receive peacefulness from thine prayers?
Doth thou believe thou aren't so soon condemned?
Thine countless sins hath struck thee from his care;
When thou expires, thine soul to me he'll send."
I slowly stirred my soul from reverie
And spake "Sorry - were you addressing me?"
(The actual day was yesterday, 4/23 - I started this late at night but didn't get it completed in time.)
