hand shake with the devil.

The air was thick with sulfur haze, A spiraling, grey-blue ghost, I met him in the smoke-filled maze, The shadow and the host.

He held a light, a jagged spark, That flared against his palm, His eyes were windows to the dark, A cold and hollow calm.

We shared the ember’s dying glow, A ritual of ash and sin, I felt the sudden winter blow Beneath his brittle skin.

I reached to seal the bargain made Amidst the curling stream, His fingers cold as rusted blade, A nightmare in a dream.

The handshake held the weight of stones, A grip that would not bend, The rattle of those hidden bones The greeting of a friend.

The smoke dissolved into the night, The devil pulled away, And left me in the fading light To curse the coming day.