what the hell

few have seen the devil in me

i keep him hidden away

locked in a vault

reinforced by years of

steel vices

and scar tissue

and jagged edges of

beautiful broken things

in solitary confinement he sits

in flames and in ice

but that tough son of a bitch

will not starve

will not shrivel

away

no matter how much I

exorcize him

and feed him poison

and suffocate him in

sex and smoke and

hope

he breaks free

on random weekend nights

when it’s just him and I

and the thing is

I cannot tell

if writing about him

keeps him in

or lets him out

what the hell