The devil
is rarely loud
He is
immaculately
dressed
Well read
Patient
His voice
never rises
He knows
anger
is a language
spoken by
amateurs
He speaks instead
in reason
and compromise
in things
that sound
almost true
He does not
lose arguments
He simply
changes tactics
until your certainty
mistakes him
for wisdom
He can wear
the face
of compassion
the smile of justice
and the vocabulary
of virtue
He has borrowed
every mask
humanity
has ever trusted
People believe
they can bargain
with him
Negotiate
Leave
with more
than they brought
As though evil
has ever signed
a contract
without reading
the fine print
Entire civilizations
have mistaken
comfort for truth
Many souls
were never
stolen
They
volunteered
Certain
they were making
the intelligent choice
The devil
has studied us
since before
we invented
our first excuse
He knows
our appetite
better than
we know our names
He does not
need chains
He merely asks
what you desire
and waits for you
to build
your own prison
So
when someone
appears too perfect
too polished and certain
Listen
Not only
to what they promise
but to what they require
you to surrender
Because evil
rarely demands
your life
It asks instead
for one compromise
followed by another
until there is nothing
left worth saving
Yet…
There remains
one thing
the devil
has never learned
to counterfeit
Hope
Not the
sentimental kind
The stubborn
irrational
unprofitable
hope
One that survives
after every illusion
has been burned away
The hope
that refuses to sell
its conscience
for certainty
Perhaps
that is why
he spends
so much time
teaching us despair
For even
the smallest ember
can ignite
an entire world
And that
must terrify
hell itself