fallen angel

i see Him at the corner of the bar,

inhaling Fireballs and exhaling blasphemy that sends the hounds howling.

arm tensed, hanging at His side

the weight of His guitar case trembling in His fingertips.

His first gig. His first smile of the night

when He sees me from under that knitted beanie,

past the strands of His blonde locks

painted green, then red, then blue, then white

shifting in the stage lights, He sees me

and i fall in love with His nervous radiance.

when the stage is set and the drums boom and hiss,

his fingers tell a story i know is someone else’s.

He skates along those strings, but He is rooted to the moment.

whatever the play in this theatre,

this den of metal and rock

He is conducting a one-man orchestra

the players can’t keep up with,

and the floor floods with headbangers

in a tidal wave of hair that roars,

Crashes, ebbs, flows to His symphony.

His blue eyes are closed to me,

does He not count the souls

willingly enslaving themselves to His Truth?

does He notice me rejoicing among them?

again, i fall in love.

in my whiskey-laden aftershock

avoiding the gazes of the crowd,

this dear friend bathed in colour and light

fresh from the fight, battle-hardened,

fire crackles in His throat and sparks flare from His smile.

i sway to this flame, lured in by His song,

i surrender to the demons He summoned within me

No hope of exorcism despite His heavenly eyes

while His devil tongue serenades me sweet,

slow, ineffable godly designs unfolding in and around us,

secrets of the universe woven in His words

drown me in His Inferno until i kiss the great door to the infinite

at last unlocked, open to me.

and I fall…

...fall…

…fall in love.