The Devil on vacation

A tale about us all

Tonight a tale  of Life and Love you'll hear
of Hope, and Hate, and Death, and Fear
Of Pain, and the burning of Desire
Of Heavenly love, and of Hell's fire
Of  lovers who fought the Devil face to face
And of those two lovers’ tragic fate.


'Tis a tale about us all: About how in the end, the bravest fall
But it is a reminder too - that it does matter what you do -

And that who you love and how much you care
May well tell how, in the end, you fare...
And that no matter how poorly life’s game begins
Sometimes a pair of hearts can win.

For t’was a young pair of hearts just like those
Who for one long hour Hell’s fires froze.
Who battled against the fate all lovers someday share:
The day that God (or the Devil) splits the pair;
The day when our eyes close, and we hold our breath
Not for kisses but for death –
The day none would dream, but all will see
The fate the future holds for thee...
The night one cries, and wails, and moans
The night when one of two must sleep alone.
The night when one grows cold to one still hot
The night when one still is, but one is not.
The night when God smiles or the Devil grins
The night when one of us pays for his sins.

And therein lies this tale's true story:
Love brings as much pain as much as glory.
For in the end, all our Lovers go
Either pulled above or pushed below....

So, listen to my tale and then choose:
Did this pair of lovers win ...or lose?
Did they Win because their love lives on?
Or lose... Because one of them is gone?



She was young and pretty as the rose
That the ancient story’s Goddess chose
As symbol of youth’s fleeting beauty
that fades so fast 'neath worry and duty
which grey our hair and wreck our eyes
Till we all that damn'd mirror despise
And swear not to look in it e’er again
But decide ‘tis better to “just remember when”
And view the ourselves through a rose-colored glass
That won't reveal the gritty years as they pass,
but each calendar page leaves its inky traces
As wrinkles etched on our young faces.







Yes, we all prefer the rosy mirror of memory
Which shows us as we used to be....
So this girl is now ageless and outside time
And will stay so . . . For she lives now only inside this rhyme.


Her name was Karilynn, and each day she rose
To say sweet prayers just like those
She’d said just before she went to sleep -
Asking God her lover safe to keep -
Safe from the Devil, and from all harm;
By soft prayers each day she renewed the charm
That returned him each night into her arms.

That boy was Benjamin, and in her young mind

A girl could search the globe and never find
Another so handsome and so brave;
Her heart was locked to his - she'd become a willing slave
E’er since the moment their hearts first beat as one -
And raced as if the lovers’ deed they’d done;
But although they’d kissed, and kissed, and kissed, and kissed
Though luck and chance they’d somehow missed
A chance to consummate their love...
Yes, they remained as pure as snow-white doves.


Now to tell the truth, that had not been their plan
But there are bigger forces than those of man -
Forces like the moon that moves the tide

That takes the best-rowed boats along for the ride

Oh, we think that we control our fates
And decide when to love or who to hate
And when to sleep and when to rise -
Yet no one chooses when he dies.
And no one chooses who to love...
And few really want to live life as snow-white doves.

Oh - My children - we think that we control our life's’ clock
And decide things when we make so much brave talk
Yes, we think that we have so much power
But we move life's minute hand, not the hour.

So, virgin she and virgin he just one afternoon had spent together
Hot together in a grand old bed; hot together in the cold, cold weather
And that day they played at the things that lovers do
...Played what little of that game they knew


Oh, the devil teaches eager students
To do some things that are not prudent
Teaches sweet lambs how to unbutton...
And teaches shepherds a taste for mutton.

Yes, the Devil teaches young men just how to kiss
That very, very willing Miss...

And so with hot sweet kisses to her breast,
The Devil’d done his very best
To give both pleasure but also ruin –
To have passion start them madly doing
That secret thing that married lovers know
That makes sweet young babies grow and grow.
But, you know, babies grow in single maids as well,
And those maids get ruin and sometimes Hell.


Yes, carrying a baby without wearing a ring
Can be a very damning thing.
But the horny Devil does not care...
‘Tis just for his pleasure he comes there....
And if there is a baby after,
Why, a girl'll hear nothing from him but laughter!

So, the Devil enflamed poor Benjamin
With the perfumed heat of sweet Karilynn...
And he was about to play the knave of clubs atop the queen
When his trick was lost to a hand unseen.





For Karilynn's guardian angel helped those lovers cool
Just before that Devil's jackpot was pulled!
For just before key was fit to the lock
Her angel on the bedroom door had gently knocked –
(Or was it really just the ticking of old Grandfather's clock?)
But quick! From their hot bed, those two shaking rose
And went scrambling for their scattered clothes
To later laugh, and laugh, and laugh, and smile –
To think there’d been no one there all the while!
So with their secret safe and love still strong
The two had come together but had not really wronged
Her name or virtue that winter’s day
Yet the seed of true love was laid to stay,
And stay, and stay, and stay, in their hearts and in that bed
Where a thousand whispered promises had been said.

Oh, the hot love that those two did feel

Had been tempered strong as Damascus steel!
For boiling blood quick-chilled is the key
To forging love that lasts for eternity.

And how that came to be thus so
So many of we old ones know....

Young love can be heated past red-hot
But sudden, sudden, sudden! stopped
By icy fear of getting caught!
Oh, how often is that teen-aged molten yielding to desire
stopped dead-cold by fear of a father’s ire?

And that really is the best answer, dears –
For those who don't stop live a month of fear,
And are left sad, and scared, and very worried
And wishing that they had not hurried
To bed one winter’s afternoon....
Yes, that fear that makes young men's faces pale

Is the thought of going off to marriage-jail
Yes, just to read a long sentence like that can make you swoon...
Is that period coming soon?
Better to pray that our angels save us all
Just as we are about to fall...
And pray that someone kindly, gently knocks
Just before unused key meets untried lock…

So, this time, that tiny Angel’s hand had won
The Devil’s poker game; had spoiled his fun
And then that tiny angel looked - straight and level
At a very angry, damn'd-hot, horny Devil,
And she made a little smirking angel face!
And stuck out her tongue !
(Frankly, ‘Twas in quite poor taste)
And then she showed Satan the book she’d made an entry in:
‘Twas a neat check mark in the column “Interrupted Sin”


Well, this left him screaming with desire
To burn two more lovers with Hell’s fire
He’d show that angel who would win!
After all, he’d invented Original Sin.



And so he angrily swore that this must come to be...
And he’d have his revenge on them all... eternally.

So a damn'd angry Devil hatched a scheme,
A plot, a trick, so it would seem
That he’d forgot this loving pair
And gone off to raise hell... elsewhere

And left them to their young lover’s bliss
Left them with all well and naught amiss
Left them with a future so warm and bright
That there could be no dream of a lonely night.
And thus t’was safe for that guardian angel to go
And find other racing hearts to slow.

But:
When he seemed to forget, he had not,
And here we share the secret of his dark plot
A simple plan –




He shows the empty hand without the knife
Look you there -
And the other hand takes your life...
For the Devil has many subtle skills
and has so many clever ways to kill

A little cleverness makes his revenge so much more fun
so he'll dance with you till the deed is done.
So cunningly will the Devil play you false
that you won't see the danger in the waltz.

And in winter he likes to give a chance,
to the his deadly friends to also dance
So influenza pirouettes into our rooms,

doing feverish tangos; spreading doom.
Pneumonia here; Rheumatic fever there,
Soon the dance with death reeled everywhere.

And so into this village the Danse Macabre came,
with the death coughing out the devil’s name

To first take away the old and weak
and then the younger victims seek
They’re the tastiest dish for death to feast on
Those the years have worked the least on
Tis with relish death's salsa dancers taste
the little hearts they lay to waste


But we can stop influenza if every mother fights
And guards her children day and night,
And feeds them soup, and prays and prays:
Oh God, Keep the devil and death away!


And so did our brave young Karilynn
Such a long, hard, fight with death begin.
She with all the other women of the town -
Every woman gathered round
Some child’s bed and said quiet prayers
that the devil and death would not look there
And would not smell that child’s sweet breath
But seek another for the dance with death.

Karilynn's duty was to nurse a child of four
A boy from a family that was so terrible poor
That their house had no fire in the hearth even then,
Nor soup, nor a single drop of medicine.
So with naught but faith to slow the fever’s harm
She could only hold the child in her arms
So she lay down in the poor child's tiny bed
And held to her breast his fevered head.

But after caring for the dying child for three long days
Karilynn, at dusk, forgot her other prayers to say!
Forgot prayers for her lover just one time!
'Twas just a single stumble in the rhyme
A single misstep in the dance,
And t’was there the Devil saw his chance.

For while Karilynn lie with that boy in bed
There was still the village flock of sheep to be fed
The only winter pasture was far, far, away
And there Benjamin had had to take the sheep that day.
Thus on this dusk Benjamin - target of the Devil's wrath -
Was walking home alone on a slippery, icy mountain path.
And there was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide
On that lonely winter mountainside.

Without her sweet prayers to be his guard,
The Devil pushed her young man – hard!
And down, and down, and down he fell
Speeded by that hand from hell.
Guardian Angels, watching sick children all
Were not there to break his fall.
There was no man or sprit to see him slip
And no shout or scream escaped his lips
There was no one to save him as he fell...
No rescue from the icy hand of hell.




Is ever rescue waiting there
When the devil takes us unaware?
When a lover’s thoughts have gone astray
For that single moment in a single day....

For in that moment when she thinks of other things
The devil take will take the opening.
You know for that moment she forgets your face,
You could vanish from from the earth, without a trace.

Thus shall we all someday day die
Or have our hearts break as we cry.
Yes, one will grow cold to one still hot.
One will still love while one does not.

And isn’t that everyone's secret fear?
To cry out for love - and have no one hear!
We all fear the moment our soul's left bare
Because a lover's thought is not there …
Not there to catch us if we fall.
Not there to think of us at all.

And so our Benjamin fell down and down,
And there was bright red blood on icy ground
But there was no other living soul for miles
To see the devil’s icy smile.

Now the bait for his cruel trap was set
And he savored its smell – his best trick yet!

Now, no other human walked along that way
As cold cruel night slowly conquered day.
As the dying sun set behind the hills
And the night’s icy wind increased its chill.
No humans came, but soon came Pain and Fear!
Yes, they came close! Drew near and nearer!


And when they saw Benjamin could not speak,
With icy hands, they stroked his cheeks,
And told him death would take him by dawn.
Told him his life would soon be gone.
Told him that his soul was leaving.
Told him that he was freezing.
And then they each kissed his eyes,
And, softly, gently, whispered......Die !

And all that night Benjamin was trapped in this dark dream
And he could not moan, and could not scream,
And could not move, and could not cry....
But only waited - in the snow - to die!

And as the moon’s last light fell dim,
The cold snow drifted up to cover him.
Buried his body in its soft white....
A virgin’s white tomb held him that night.

But when as the morning rose, old Rob came walking!
A mad old man, always talking, talking,
Talking aloud to his old deaf hound, Tim.
Talking to all he saw around him.
And talking to those whom others couldn’t see -
He called them fairies, but you’d call them trees.


Yes, Old Rob was mad, but really ‘twas the drinking
T’was too much ale had wrecked his thinking.
And so he was walking, talking, singing, falling,
When he thought, he heard someone calling
Calling out to him from somewhere in the snow....
Shouting out, “Don’t go! Don’t go!”


Now, perhaps it was a fairy who spoke,
Although 'tis rare they speak to folk.

Or maybe it really was the trees
Who could not let poor Benjamin freeze

For though he was, oh, so so close to death,
Sipping the last drops of his life’s breath,


Some inner power had willed him to survive
And through that darkest night, he’d stayed alive.

What thing had saved him through those black hours?
Only one thing has that much power!

It was not magic and it was not fire.
T’was true love - a pure heart's pure desire

'Twas the flame of love that had heated
His heart all night and thus defeated...

Death




So mad, mad Rob, drunk and old
Rescued our Benjamin from the cold
And guided by odd voices in his addled head,
Rob carried Benjamin’s body - not home - but to Karilynn’s bed.
Later, he could never say how he knew.
He could only say “Twas was the right thing to do”.
And so he gently laid Benjamin in that lovers’ bed,
And then left him – sure that the boy’d soon be dead



But yet Benjamin did finally open his frozen eyes
To his own, if not the Devil’s, great surprise

“Karilynn, Karilynn!” Benjamin said.
Karilynn ...For you I lived! I AM NOT DEAD!

As he woke in the bed where they'd as lovers laid,
And had those thousand secret promises made…
He woke alone...
For there was no one there - at least no one of flesh and bone
But there was a presence in the room...
And it smelled of brimstone... and of smoky doom.
-

A figure stood by the fireplace
A figure with a strangely familiar face.
A face that was leathery and red
T’was the face that drags off half the dead.
The face we see in evil's flame.
The face that is the blushing red in shame.
The face that we sad sinners know all too well:
The face of the fiery Master of Hell.


But Satan was not Master here...
And in truth, Benjamin had yet naught to fear
For Old Nick knew full well, you see,
That sin is measured in degrees,
(And Benjamin scored on that scale, at worst, one point-three)
But he also knew Benjamin was naïve,
And that it'd be easy work to make him believe
That Hell was already his sealed fate.
That Death's boatman would brook no debate.

For if Benjamin to death foolishly agreed
The Devil's plan would thus succeed,
There'd be no more tale left for me to tell,
Nothing left for me to say except - “Oh well, Hell! “

So knowing this, the Devil smiled
-His best one - one designed to beguile,
And as Benjamin very slowly woke
The Devil very quick spoke:

"Well, well, well," the Devil said...
It appears to ME you're dead,
Or are very, very nearly so, - so come on Lad it's time to go.

But Benjamin said just one word: "No!"

The Devil's face showed he was plainly not amused....
He said, "Come now boy, you're just confused -
If there's one thing Christian history shows,
It's that no damned fool tells the Devil No".

Then he stomped, he raged, he screamed, he roared,
He wheedled, he whispered, he cursed, he swore,
But when his devilish tirade began to slow...

Benjamin repeated one word, "No!"

When the Devil saw the boy refused to die
He finally asked the obvious question; he asked "Why?"
Why are you clutching to life so tight?
Why didn't you just die during that damned cold night?

He paused, and before he could again begin...

Benjamin whispered one word: "Karilynn!”

"Of course", grinned the Devil, "How foolish of me!”
It's your lover you want to see
The girl that you held in your arms,
The girl whose prayers you thought kept you from harm.
The girl who failed you, you see...
And dropped you like a flopping fish. . . to me.
Now you're my catch and you must go.
But Benjamin roared just one word: "NO!"

Now, there is courage and there is pain,
And when pain grows, courage wanes.
And there is pain of different kinds;
Perhaps the worst pain is that felt in the mind.
Or perhaps it is the lover’s heart
That can most feel the pain of a vicious dart.
A dart made out of stinging words -
So the Devil whispered and Benjamin heard -

"She does not love you, she never did!
She's a loving cup, but you've not been that cup’s only lid!
She lies with another boy in her soft arms -
Yes, friend, another boy enjoys her charms!
She's heated a bed for the last three eves.
Now look in my eyes -see and believe! "

And the Devil stared as he spoke
And in his eyes Benjamin saw, through dark smoke,
Karilynn! In a bed at the village inn!
Saw the lovers’ dance about to begin...
He saw her breasts, her arms, her white thighs
And thought he heard hot whispers and soft sighs...
And thought he saw a strange boy’s face, though t’was soft and dim
And he watched a smiling Karilynn reach toward him.

"Well", the Devil said, "Now you know"

And Benjamin spoke just one word: "No!"

But the first seeds of doubt had crept in;
Remember he'd almost committed that exact same sin
And so in dripped the acid pain of doubt
And when the pain grew too large he had to shout,

And he shouted out the name that his heart had held in....

He shouted out: KARILYNN!

And far across the town, she heard!
It rang through the sky- just that one word.
She knew who spoke, knew he was in pain;
She listened . . .
But it did not come again.

She stood; she turned, moved for the door.
She stopped, she stood, she listened more.
What was it, really, that she had heard?
After all, it was just one word.
Perhaps an owl cried during the day....
Perhaps it was just some young child at play.
Perhaps it was nothing, nothing at all.
She turned,
She sat,
She took off her shawl.

Now, most things we hear through our ears,
But certain things, like hopes and fears
Those are heard through our breasts
(Or, by we simple men, perhaps through our chests)
But the words sink from there straight into our hearts
To the soft, sweet place where true love starts
And where we know the truth of what we hear
The place where a lover's voice rings most clear

Now it took time for that one word to finally, fully, sink in...
But when it did, she simply stopped all thinking
And she ran outside, out into the snow -
And as she ran, she screamed one word: "No!"

And there in the freezing cold she stood -
She'd go to him, she would, she would!
But there was one small thing that made her slow:
She had simply no idea where to go!
But then a thought rose from heart to head
She KNEW where to find him: In their bed!
She ran.

And the Devil laughed. He said very slow...
"Well, Benjamin, now that you know: you know…
As for that slut, there's no reason not to go."

But Benjamin whispered just one word, "no ".

But it was soft and it was weak...
For poor Benjamin could barely speak.

"Look", said the Devil, “I know how ya feel;
But tell you what friend- I'll make you a deal “

“You know that you’ve got to come with me
And she doesn't love you; that's plain to see.”

“You know, in the game of love that the most young men play
It's rare for love to last a day.
But she's special to you, oh, that I can see
Why it's obvious - even to me!”

“And I know that a young man's heart dies hard
When the Queen of Hearts is his first drawn card”


“Yes, a first love lasts but a moment in life's game
But no one ever forgets his first love's name.
Even when she drops you for another card
If she's your first love, you take it hard....”

“So my deal comes down to this.
Come with me, and I'll grant you one last kiss.”

“One last kiss to test her heart by
One last kiss to forget by
One last kiss to see she doesn't care
You'll look for love and it won't be there.”

“For when you kiss her - then you'll know
It's truly, truly time for you to go...”

“Is it a deal? One kiss and you’ll come with me?
And do as I tell you ... for eternity?"

Benjamin thought hard about his Karilynn.
What's the difference between love and sin?
What's the line between lust and love?
Which part white lining and which part red harlot's glove?

Poor Benjamin.

For when you're young, you just don't know
That lust will leave you but true love won't go.

Benjamin wondered about what the Devil'd showed....
And how was he to truly know?
Had she had really loved him that cold winter’s day?
Was that true love or just foreplay?
And all those other days before?
Were her kisses lust – and nothing more?

He had to know! And a kiss would tell
If there were nothing there... then why not Hell?
For without her love, even if he did survive
There would be simply no point in staying alive.

And Karilynn ran through the snow
It was deep and there was so far to go.
“Oh God please let him be alive”, she prayed.
For somehow she knew to be afraid.
Somehow, a woman can just understand
When there’s danger hunting for her man.

“Oh. . .”, the Devil said, “Benjamin, you’re hesitating.
Well, I think I can guess what you’re contemplating.”

“There’s this girl whose heart you thought you’d mastered
And suddenly you learn that some other bastard
Has beat you to the flower bed
And plucked the pink rose she’d promised you instead
I know you don’t want to believe that’s so

But I also noticed. . . that you didn’t say no. . .”

Now, Doubt is a damned addictive spice,
After you’ve tasted it once, you’ll taste it twice
For you’ll sprinkle it on every word you hear
Coming from your lover’s lips towards your ears
And although doubt has a very bitter taste
You won’t let any of it go to waste

Oh, you’ll lick up every drop....
That addiction never, never stops
And though some try to kill the taste with whiskey
Mixing doubt and alcohol can be risky.
For drink spiked with doubt’s little black pills
Is a combination that often kills.
But it's a waste of time as well
For a man could inside a bottle dwell -
And he’d just learn that no drink will ever drown out
That bitter, bitter taste of doubt.

And thus, with as single drop of doubt from a tiny vial,
The Devil had put Karilynn's faithfulness on trial.

Now just then the Devil looked out the bedroom window
To see Karilynn coming, running, through the snow.
Running madly, tripping, falling
Rising, slipping, stumbling, crawling.
She got back to her feet, and began to run once more
In moments, she would reach the house’s door.
And the Devil knew if Benjamin looked into her eyes
He’d see right through the Devil's lies.

Well... the Devil wasn’t really worried;
He was an old card player, but none-the-less he hurried,
And he tossed out his very, very best card
And he played fast and played it hard.

“If you don’t believe me – well - I’ll bring her here!
And you can hear her say it with your own two ears.
I tell you, she’s taken another, sweeter, lover
And she’s nestled with him under the covers.
She’ll admit it to you; I’ll get her to say it!”
That was his trump card, and with a flourish, he played it!

“Once you’ve heard her say it, will you agree to go?
Make up your mind Man, don’t be so damned slow”
And Benjamin with a look of great distress,
Slowly, sadly, nodded...

Yes...

Women - now, I know you think Benjamin deserves a damned swift kick,
But the men will understand that he was sick -
Sick with love, and sick with doubt
For every man’s amazed his woman could love a lout -
And all men are louts – every man!
And we know it too, have known since time began.

We don’t understand that love makes women blind
And we all wait for the day that she'll suddenly find
She’s married a stupid, ugly, smelly, bore!
And she’ll leave us standing at the door
Watching, as she walks right out;
Yes, every man understands Benjamin's doubt. . .


We are such fools.



Now, the Devil met Karilynn as she came exhausted through the door
Said, “Oh, they’ve found you at last – we’ve waited on you an hour or more.”

But Karilynn saw not the Devil - just a kindly face
She saw no hint of his evil – not a trace.
Perhaps you may be somewhat surprised
But there was no chance he’d be recognized
For the Devil is very, very good at disguise.
And for Karilynn he’s chosen one above suspicion
He was a kindly white-haired old physician!

“Did my assistant tell you the boy is nearly dead?
Come - I’ll take you to him - he’s upstairs in bed.”

He told her his name was Doctor Faust
And that he’d been summoned to that house
And though that he’d tried all his medicinal tricks
Poor Benjamin was very, very sick.

And as they climbed the stairs, he told her more,
But then he paused just before the bedroom door.
“It’s very important that he not understand
That he may be a dying man.
I want no smiles or frowns – I want not a trace
Of any expression on your face.
I want nothing there for him to read
For he is very, very sick indeed.
And do not look him in the eye
For if you do, you’ll start to cry
And if you cry, he’ll know he’s doomed -
Promise now ... or I’ll not let you in the room.”

Because the good Doctor had explained the need
Karilynn reluctantly agreed.
She would do anything – anything! - If it would only save
Her one true love from a cold, dark grave.

The Devil put his hand on the bedroom door
He said, “Tell me, have you seen the sick before?”

And Karilynn slowly nodded her head.
“Oh that’s right”, The Devil said
The old Doctor frowned, and said, lips pursed,
“My assistant said you’ve been some child’s nurse.”
The Devil opened the door and he said
“Is it true you've spent the last three days in bed?

And remembering the poor sick child’s distress
Karilynn told the Devil... “Yes”

“And it was with the boy for whom you cared?”
And Karilynn answered “Yes”. . . quite unaware.

“What’s the name of the boy you care for?”
The Devil couldn’t resist just one more
Innocent little question for her-
Just one more nasty little slur...

“His name is Jonathan” she replied,
And at that moment poor Benjamin nearly died.

For he’d heard her voice through the open door
Heard the Devil’s questions, heard nothing before
And in his breaking heart there burst a flood
Of frozen crimson, cold red blood.
And suddenly he felt so very alone
That he could not stifle one low moan...

The Devil Doctor allowed himself one small grin
As he opened the door wide for Karilynn

And into the room Karilynn came,
Her head hung down as if in shame.
Her face was expressionless as a china doll’s.
Poor Benjamin could read nothing there at all.
No sign of rescue from his plight -
Hell ! She could not even meet his sight!
No love there to save him as he fell...
No rescue from her from the hand of Hell.

And the Devil walked over to the bed,
Leaned close to Benjamin and softly said
“Well Laddie, now do you believe? “
“Don’t you think it’s time to leave? “
“Let’s go some place where it’s a bit less cool;
A place where the women aren’t quite so cruel.”

And then Benjamin whispered this:
He said,

“You promised me one last kiss.”

“It’s a deal”, said the Devil, “Kiss her - and be damned!”
Whispered Benjamin,

“I think I already am…”

“Young Miss!” the kindly Doctor called, “Young Miss!”
“Come here - your lover is dying for a kiss!”

She came walking slowly towards the bed
And in a tiny painful voice, she said:

“No.”

And for just an instant the Devil froze;
Felt an icy chill run from his head to his toes!
He’d never seen anything like this:
To refuse a dying lover a kiss!
It brought him a problem he had not foreseen.
For although the Devil is low and mean,
And lies, plays tricks, and treats men like fools
Even the Devil’s deals have rules!

Yes, cheating is fair in the Devil’s game,
But there are certain standards just the same
And once the Devil’s deal is made
He also has to live with the cards - as they are played.

And if Karilynn would not kiss her lover, why
Benjamin would not have to die.

If she simply walked out now and left him cold,
Benjamin might well live to grow old.
And thus with victory so nearly tasted
All the Devil’s tricks would be wasted.
He spluttered, “For Hell’s sake, girl the boy is dyin’!
Surely, you’d not deny him
A final little moment of bliss -
Surely you’ll give him one last kiss?”

And a single tear fell from Benjamin's eye
Now he truly, truly wanted to die.

But Karilynn's thinking was this -
Hers might be a fatal kiss
And while men talk of a kiss to die for
'Tis not something good girls try for.

Recall she'd held that sick child in her arms
While Señor Influenza had danced with Spanish charm
And tried to kill the young boy as he slept.
Well, poor Karilynn was terrified that somehow she'd kept
Some deadly souvenir from that slow death dance,
And she would not, could not take that chance

And if Benjamin might have to die
She could not, would not, be the reason why.

But just as she started to explain
Benjamin interrupted - said through great pain:
"Don't explain - I don't want to know why.”

"Don't talk - just kiss me now - before I die"

Suddenly, all her careful logic was forgotten,
Her emotion simply killed all thought and
She threw her arms open and ran to his bed
“I love you, Love you, LOVE you”, she said.

She did not pause or hesitate,
She could not, would not, did not wait
She closed her eyes and held her breath
And gave her Benjamin

~ The Kiss of Death ~

And as they kissed, his and her eyes met
In a moment neither he nor she could ever forget
Looking deep, deep, deep into each other's eyes,
They suddenly both realized
How much in love they truly were
Priceless love from him, boundless love from her
And Benjamin realized that their love had never failed
He knew too late that there'd been no betrayal
Knew he'd been a fool for the Devil's game
Knew she knew too, but loved him just the same
And they both knew that it was too late… too late

... Too late…

That Karilynn's kiss had sealed Benjamin's fate.
That Karilynn would be left alone to cry.
That Benjamin was going to die.




And the Devil reached out his clawed hand
Laughed in evil triumph - and
With eyes burning like red hot coals
The Devil reached down and plucked out Benjamin's soul!


His foul laugh revealed everything -
Karilynn knew 'twas the laugh of Hell's dark King -
Knew she'd played for the fool by Lucifer
Understood what he'd done to her!
Realized she'd been raped and made to look the whore
Realized what he'd done; suspected more!
Realized how she'd badly been deceived!
Realized exactly what Benjamin had believed!
Realized how Satan achieved what he was after!
Realized why she was the butt of his laughter!
And with fury that engulfed her whole -
She reached out both hands and grabbed back Benjamin's soul!

"Ok Beelze-bub", she said,
"You can have his soul back when I’m damn dead!"
If you want it, you'll have to take it from me:
Think you can? Come on, bub.... Let's see!

Now any mortal man who has a wife
Knows you laugh at a woman at the risk of your life –
You'd think that the Devil would have been forewarned:

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned...

But the Prince of Darkness, Father of Lies,
Was taken completely by surprise.
He was ‘The Satanic Majesty’ to any male
The ‘Dark World’s Prince’ - with all that entailed
But it simply, simply, failed to impress
This tiny virgin in a dress...

Now, men once fought the Mastodon
Though it’s many millennia dead and gone

And there’s the giant crocodile,
Monster King of Egypt’s Nile
And lions and tigers and jaguars
In various jungles near and far,

But of all the beasts that give men pause
Of all the things with teeth and claws
Of all the dangers in the night
Of all the things that give men fright
The most dangerous, dangerous of them all
Was this tiny virgin five feet tall.

'And 'tis wise to fear the Amazon-Warrior-Lover
As Old Nick was about to discover!

As she hit, and kicked, and hissed, and bit
And clawed, and chewed, and scratched, and spit
And ripped, and sliced, elbowed, and kneed
And poked, and tore, and made him bleed
And tried to gouge the eyes out of his head
And ripped out his hair - oh how he bled!

Now, Lucifer has never been particularly good at war
As you’ll recall he was defeated at least once before,
And, in spite of all of his powers,
In truth he's just a tiny bit of a coward
But whenever he is under heavy attack,
He draws his most terrible weapons – and strikes back!

Suddenly the room filled with a grey, wet fog
And there came the growl of an angry dog
And then appeared that dog, huge and black
Sharp white teeth gleaming - ready to attack!

He stood glaring before Karilynn -
And she prepared for his assault to begin . . .
But his burning eyes were not on her-
A different scent had aroused that black cur:
A tiny baby now lay on the floor
As a grinning incubus scurried out and slammed the door

How had the Devil conjured babe and dog
From that dark and boiling, stinking, fog?
Well, in that village full of dead and dying
There were plenty of lost babies crying.
‘Twas simple thing for any demon to do:
Steal a babe from a mother dying from flu
And then gallop to his master astride that evil dog
Riding hidden beneath that shroud of death-black fog....
And perform a task this handsome imp had done oft’ before:
Leave a newborn babe on a girl’s bedroom floor.

Thus the Devil abused in that dark hour,
Mother Nature’s strongest power.
The need to protect a threatened child
Is seen in all the creatures of the wild.
Even among the things that slither and creep
No other instinct runs so deep.
It seizes a woman like nothing else can;
When there’s a babe in danger, a woman can’t stop to plan.

Save the child

Karilynn knew she must step towards the dog: not step back
Must reach out and brave the brutal beast's attack
And save the baby from a vicious death
Shocked, she paused, drew in her breath
And in that hesitation in her attack -

The Devil snatched Benjamin's soul - took it back!

"You must choose" the Devil, screaming, said....
"Either the babe or Benjamin is dead!”

"Either my black dog devours the baby whole,
Or you give up your fight for Benjamin's soul!
One of them comes to Hell with me!
Choose now - which one will it be?"

The dog to her left, the Devil to her right
'Twas there ever, ever, such a plight?
Now,
Which sin would you choose for your own cross?
Would you save your true love, but see the baby lost?
Or save the baby - be its young life’s defender
Knowing that you must thereby surrender
To the Devil! The soul of the one who loves you!
Tell me now. . . what would you do?

Thus through the Devil’s warped geometry
Two souls multiplied into three
Yet by adding a baby to love’s pure equation
The Devil wanted love’s death - Not its salvation.
And while it though two souls had been multiplied
The Devil was really trying to divide
Trying to divide by a baby that should equal bliss
Oh...that was his evil calculus.

Yes, that was the exactly the calculation behind in his attack!
Force Karilynn to choose which soul to subtract
Make her carry a negative sign as her cross
Oh, to live life with the decision of which one was lost!
But poor Karilynn could not cut life into fractions
So she was stunned into inaction
She just couldn’t do the Devil’s arithmetic,
"Choose, screamed the Devil, “and choose quick!”

From above, Benjamin’s soul was looking on,
But his power of speech was long since gone
For when a body is separated from its soul
The muscles are no longer under its control
For ‘tis the soul’s energy that drives the heart
And all life stops after it departs
And what was a man is now something less
Just a cold and empty piece of flesh
But with the concentration of all his will
Focused toward that quiet, cold, and still,
And lifeless body lying on the bed
Benjamin’s voice somehow softly said:

“The child”


And Karilynn threw herself beneath
That devil-dog’s sharp white teeth,
And grabbed the poor baby in her own arms-
And huddled over him to protect him from harm.
But the barking dog did not bite . . .
Instead, it vanished out of sight!
It vanished as if it had never been –

But so did the Devil and Benjamin.

They vanished in the thick grey fog
The Devil, Benjamin, and black dog

Heartsick, Karilynn sank to the floor
She had made her choice - her Benjamin was no more
The babe safe in her arms, she started to cry
And she screamed out toward the Heavens:

Why?
But that question is never answered for man:
Do things just happen because they can?
- Or does God really have a hidden plan?
And though you may ask and ask till you grow old,
Never, child, will you be told
Never, child, will you ever know why
Your lover must be the one to die.

And so it was for Karilynn.
And her lost love - her Benjamin...
And today in Hell under the Devil’s reign
Benjamin dwells forever in heartsick pain
And forever he’ll be the Devil’s slave
For in this tale. . . true love did not save.
There came no rescue from the hand of Hell.
There was no way to save him once he fell...


So forever Benjamin’s hellish punishment will be his job -
To go along whenever the Devil decides to rob
One lover’s heart out of a pair;
Yes, he helps the Devil end all love affairs.

But, the Devil still carries scars from his fight
With brave Karilynn that fateful night
So the Devil won’t get too close at love’s bitter end
Instead, he coldly summons Benjamin
When the moment comes to tear young love apart
'Tis Benjamin’s job to rip out one heart.
And each time, Benjamin feels lost love’s pain
And he remembers Karilynn’s last kiss again.

This is the Devil’s revenge on Benjamin
To make him feel love’s death again.
And again.
And again.

Now 'tis Benjamin’s hand makes one grow cold to one still hot
Brings the night when one still loves, but one will not
‘Tis Benjamin must bring the night of cries, and wails, and moans,
The night when one of two will sleep alone
That night that is everyone’s secret fear...
'But Benjamin must do his job through his tears....

Now, 'tis true that Benjamin must do as he is told to do
But sometimes -if he sees a love that’s really pure and true,
When the moment comes to strike that final blow
Benjamin tells the Devil:

“No!”


And not all the demons in that inferno
Can change Benjamin's mind once he has thus said so.

And though the Devil has ways to cause him great pain
Benjamin will not change his mind again.
He suffers all the tortures known to damned souls -
Buried to his neck in burning coals,
And whipped until his back is flayed
But Benjamin can’t forget that he once betrayed

His true love . . .

And though fiends may cut out his heart with a knife of ice
Benjamin will not betray true love twice.

So if your love is really true
Benjamin will try to protect you two
From the Devil ripping out your hearts.
From the Devil tearing true love apart -

Still Benjamin cannot save every man,
Although he does what little that he can.
He can’t help those whose love isn’t true -
For those there’s just nothing he can do

So you must help him in his fight:

Girls, hold your lover close tonight!
And never let your man think he’s been forsaken
Because of some stupid, sad, and mistaken
Story that the Devil tells -
They’re just whispered lies to make him feel like Hell!

And Men never let yourself be lured astray
By some pretty promise of some sexy play,
Some promise of a hot, hot bed
That will leave your real love cold and dead,
If your girl finds out - and find out she will-
(For that is one of the Devil’s special skills:
Making sure every betrayed woman understands
Exactly which hot bitch stole her man.

So Lovers don’t let your hearts drift astray
For even single moment in a single day....
For the moment one of you thinks of other things
The Devil will take the opening.

A Postscript to the tale

Now, people sometimes ask if young Karilynn
Didn’t just invent this story to hide her sin,
Of having a baby when she wasn’t wedded -
They ask if she hadn’t really bedded
Benjamin to his satisfaction -
Ask if there hadn’t been just a little nun's-rules infraction:
Knobs turned and then a hot key fit to lock
And to Hell with with that noise of some damned ticking clock.

And did she later lie about how she’d obtained a baby?

And. . . the true answer is . . . well . . . Maybe . . .

But you have to give the Devil his due,
And I’ve always thought the tale was true
For if anyone ever committed such a sin
‘Twas not my mother . . . not Karilynn.

Now I'll send you off to your warm beds
Sure soon to forget all that I’ve said
But if you chose to forget this entire story,
Just remember that true love will bring as much pain as glory.
For in the end, all our Lovers go
Either pulled above or pushed below....

And I bid you: look carefully at kindly stranger's faces
Look carefully to see if you can detect the traces
Of a mark that his - or her - beautiful features mars
For on the Devil's cheek is a heart-shaped scar
Put there by Karilynn in her desperate fight
To save her lover’s soul that night.


And if that warning saves you from some foolish sin
Then maybe this time Karilynn and Benjamin will win.

Now kiss your true love and run ye off to bed.
There's nothing more left to be said.

Why?

One winter night a few years ago, I found myself dreaming. It was a long dream; a fantastical tale of love, in which the Devil made a dramatic appearance. The dream all took place in a little tiny village in the mountains of (?) obviously some hundreds of years ago.




The dream was in rhyme. The Devil had some remarkably witty lines. I was both amused, and impressed ... and asleep.

But something woke me. A cat? A shadow? I can't say. But awake, the dream stayed with me.

I got out of bed, and poured a drink; picked up a pencil and wrote down what I could remember. A year later, I'd more-or-less reconstructed the story... but only in the manner of a primitive trying to recreate the image of the angel he had seen, out of mud and straw. This is my humble attempt to recreate a dream