Increments

The devil deals
in increments, small
and sinuous
seductions gradually

transacted in the space
you made without
realizing one
soul may be

sold in many
lots, and every
clasp of
that sleight

of hand makes the next
easier, your frog
skin luxuriating:
How lovely,

at first, the
warming water.

Having missed
the inobvious horns —
so confounding, those
handshakes —

you might later
note the secret
feet, glossy and
cloven,

confess your complicity —  how
patient and nuanced,
the corruption of good by
antithesis —

realize, depleted and
disoriented, you have bowed
to a god who never made
you,

restore your sweet
soul to its nativity;
pray in your original
tongue.

Tags: corruption, courage, creative writing, devil, honest, poem, poetry, prayer, redemption, spirituality