Last night, The Devil called
He said
I’m calling in my marker
You have the wrong stiff, I replied
I’ve been scared stiff too long
I calcified
Turned into crystal
Split apart under armadillo sun
Melted and became a resin lingua, beneath surface, hearing murmur
Of half forgotten plea 
Smoke me if you must
You’ve got the flame
Though displeased not to gain my soul, ponder this …
What you cannot snap in two
What resists
Will one day be called beautiful
And all that pain it took
Just to keep walking
When the sun burned you to clay and turned you finally to river mud
When the last ounce of yes I can
Si su puede
Became Holy Lord I cannot endure
When you felt yourself
Wilt like wax candle of the saints, in midday sun
From alive, to oil, to fire and back again to blood
When Demi-Devil’s mock human weakness
Whispering in your shellac ear
“Try your hand at Lady luck”
You know
As sure as the pain
Will come and sear that moment, right from you
A ripper of joy
Wielding guts by the garter
That no ideal lasts as long as your breath
Captured in entreaty
Oh Great Ones
Who stand, past and present
And know what we, of salinated water, shall never know
Lift us up from our pain
The fear gnashing blind over tattoo soul
Lift us up high enough, to see beyond the mountain of defeat
And like children from their deep sleep, we feel renewal
Fingers of comfort, rounding in caress
You see, evil has no hold, over courage
And still it is okay to say
I am scared, I am weak
When in our transformation we will become
Light
Extinguishing a little of the fear gripping the recess of survival
Refusing to drown 
Say it once
Say it every time
I am still
And the wind blows cool
On my wet face
I feel you near
I know I am not alone
I open the window and whisper
You can still
Hear