The Devil’s Prayer

I felt him before I saw him
As I slowly lifted my chin
Stench, something worse than death
Heat pulsing from blistered skin

He smiled with eerie confidence
Showing teeth, sharp, caked with grime
Took a fat ledger from his coat and said
“I’ve come to collect what is mine”

“Let’s talk about that gal in Reno
Or the only you left in Baton Rouge
You broke a few hearts, didn’t you boy
So, it’s my job to now break you”

He hissed and spoke, he shook his coat
So the brimstone would fall away
He said “Let’s not forget all that whiskey
No damn way I’ll overlook the mescaline”

Roached crawled around his boots
The ground beneath us shook
As he read down my list of crimes
The sky went dark, like the end of times
Oh, just like the end of times

“How about your boy, the one you never raised
Today he’s sitting in a county cell
Or the widow your made back in Omaha
I’ll let you share her privet hell”

“You got me dead to rights, Old Scratch
I won’t fight you, and I won’t crawl
But give me one small moment so I
Can say a little pray for your soul”

His jaw clenched, his face twitched
Yet he never said a word
Stuffed that old ledger in his coat
And broke a grin as he turned