I took the night off,

for a while I allowed myself to hear words

but not concentrate

on watching the eyes,

the soul man, I stayed

away from the soul and

I took pleasure in staying out

of the emotions;

even my own words

were perhaps delivered without the same

fire and brimstone longing,

the same damnation in my spit and looking across

to see the Devil judging,

mocking my every words, his tail

poking out from underneath the table

and chairs and balancing a single shot