After the Divine Comedy

Demon Face

After the Divine Comedy

One day the devil
(Who nowadays is
Only ever seen advertised
On the wall paintings
Of old churches)
Came out into plain sight.
Seeming to taunt the people,
He would stand on one hoof
then the other
And putting his festering talons on
either side of his great scaly red belly
He would roar with laughter and say…
‘Fools you thought that I was invented
by man, when the reverse is true.’

The people then looked behind
The devil into the yawning maw
From whence he came
And saw a great stramash
Between men of different
Style and configuration
All screaming at each other
in the silence that is hell…
‘You now see for what you were
made’ he said

Then from the crowd before the beast
A child of tender years walked
Towards the swaggering demon
And said ‘It is good that I can see
You and take your measure
For now If I take your hand
Which of us will burn?’

© Bernard Pearson

First published in The Melbouren Culture Corner

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Bernard Pearson

poet & author

Bernard lives in Oswestry, UK. He is published in around one hundred journals and magazines worldwide. He is also a spoken-word performer, finalist in both the John Tripp Spoken Word Competition and The All Wales Comic Verse Competition. Plus a biographer and prize-winning short story writer. His work has appeared in many publications. In 2017 a selection of his poetry ‘In Free Fall’ was published by Leaf by Leaf  Press. In 2019 he won second prize in The Aurora Prize (an international competition in Poetry) for his poem ‘Manor Farm’ and his first novel ‘Where the Willows End‘ was published by Leaf by Leaf Press. His second novel is due out in 2022.

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