As I was walking in the arid landscape,
Just like a mirage, a presence took shape,
I felt uneasy, but could not escape,
He had a spear in the hand and wore a cape.

On top of his head, glittering in the sun, he had horns,
From his dried crackled skin, erupted sharp thorns,
I had been walking for 40 days in the desert,
Nothing resembled what in front of me was present.

In his eyes was a rotten malicious flicker,
A roaring laughter made my soul shiver,
My heart began to pound, my sweat became thicker,
It was pointless to flee, he already was the winner.

It was Lucifer, monarch of hell, Mr. Evil himself,
I wondered what could Satan want from myself,
Damn me? Convert me? Buy my soul?
Torture me? Throw me in the infernal hole?

“Hello Stranger”, he said in a clear, almost fun voice,
“Where are you heading on this way to nowhere?
Are you here by accident, or did you take a choice?
You seem fearful, and in your eyes there’s a scare.”

Defensively, I retorted “And what do you want from me?
I am just a lost man walking in the middle of nowhere,
I am finding my way through the dunes, a path trying to see,
But there are no landmarks, no signals to tell me what is fair.”

“I have been asking God for signs,
Etched in stones, new or ancient,
I wish I could read between the lines,
But there’s nothing written, so I must be patient”

“You see, I have been told that God is above,
When he goes down, he takes the shape of a dove,
To me, being hungry, the only sensible thing I might do,
Is if I could kill the dove, roast it, and eat it too.”

Throughout my monologue, the figure had sympathy in the eyes,
I think he knew I was telling the truth, not a bunch of lies,
Maybe he took pity on me, maybe he wasn’t as cruel as can be,
Because after walking for some time, he decided to let me be.

The popular poem goes that if we see one set of footprints,
It was because God was carrying us in times of trouble and rifts,
As I looked back at where I walked in that desolate place,
I noticed only my own marks, my own solitary pace.

Maybe God was carrying me around,
But throughout that difficult journey,
As I was looking to be safe at bay,
As I was turning aimlessly around.

It was the devil that kept me company along the way.