The Devil Came Looking for a Fight

The Devil came up from the river road

with dust upon his shoes,

slicked-back hair and a pink plaid tie,

a Bible tucked in too,

carrying every bitter word

a wounded man could curse.

He walked until he found a well

the local watering hole.

A stranger sat there quietly.

Just then the Devil spoke,

"They say people in hell

want ice water.

With this heat

I need a drink."

The stranger drew the bucket up

and poured it to the brim.

The Devil stared suspiciously.

"You know who I am, Friend?"

The stranger handed him the cup.

and said, "I reckon you're thirsty."

The Devil laughed and nearly choked.

"That all you see?"

The stranger said,

"No. But, that is all you asked me."

The Devil thought he had found a well,
but he found a classroom along the road.

For once the fork-tongued adversary

was at a loss for words

He drank his water quietly

and placed his Bible atop the well.

The stranger looked

at the leather-bound arrangement.

He motioned toward the Bible

and asked the Devil

"Is that a good story?"

The Devil frowned.

"No. Not really.

It's kind of bad for business."

The stranger laughed.

"You read it much?"

The Devil's smile faded.

"Enough to know the ending."

The stranger shifted before he said,

"Seems to me you've spent a long time carrying around that book.

Have you ever stopped to think?

That book can carry you."

"You always talk in riddles?"

The Devil asked with candor.

The stranger met his gaze.

"Only when people know the answer."

The Devil thought he had found a well,
but he found a classroom along the road.

The Devil stared at him.

"For me, there is no hope.

My past is quite atrocious."

The Devil continued.

"I've fanned the fires

and poisoned men's desires

till conquest felt like will.

I've turned brothers against brothers

and wives against their men.

This book right here records my deeds,

bound up for all to read.

Every lie and every wound,

every bitter seed."

Then the stranger spoke.

"So, that's just it then?

You've read ahead

and decided how it ends?

Have you given up?

I know a guy who eats dinner

with the condemned.

If you think that you are bad,

you should meet his friends."

The stranger's words grew stronger

"Tell me.

Before the lies

before the compromise

what happened to you?"

The Devil opened his mouth,

but nothing came out.

Instead his head hung low.

Then the Devil realized

Sometimes love arrives

disguised as strangers,

wells and water.

The Devil thought he had found a well,
but he found a classroom along the road.