Jack O' The Lantern

Jack was a man who did wicked things,

He did so as he dances and sings.

Jack went on as years went by,

Before he knew it, it was time to die.

The Devil came for his soul, his time was up,

He called "Jack! Come with me, you lil pup!"

But Jack was cunning, Jack was smart,

He knew the Devil's craft and art.

"Walk with me and I will come,

Allow one last ambling stroll and hum".

The Devil walked with Jack towards the East,

Until the cross paths with a priest.

"Hide me Jack, for I fear the cloth,

Hide me now, lest I decay and rot".

Jack opened his pocket and the Devil lept in,

Shrinking to the size of the eye of a pin.

Jack saw his chance to escape his fate,

to postpone his damnation to a later date.

He asked the kindly priest for a cross,

and stuck it in his pocket with no time loss.

The Devil screamed in terror at Jack's trap,

The cross seared as it sat in his lap.

"Jack, you divil, let me go, let me out!"

But Jack ignored the Devil's pleading shout.

"I'll let you go but prick your ears,

Promise me I'll live for a thousand years".

The Devil agreed and out he came,

and off he fled, hobbled and lame.

So Jack lived his years in fiendish delight,

Causing mayhem every day and every night.

The Hour came and Jack departed,

But at the gates, Jack was dishearten.

"No man who deals with the Devil may come in,

You shall go to him to pay for your sin".

But when Jack approached Hell it too was blocked,

The Devil made sure the gates were sealed and locked.

"You are to smart for me Jack, and for your own good,

You shall wander the Earth in pain like you should".

Jack cried out "pardon me, take pity,

The Sluagh will get me in any town and city".

To taunt him more, the Devil gave a single ember,

To light his way but also he could remember.

It was his doing that caused his anguish to churn,

That damned him to be Jack O' The Lantern.