The Demon

The Demon

The was a demon in the bottle

We all knew it was there

But no-one would acknowledge it

We pretended not to care

He lurked there in the darkness

All eyes and teeth and claws

Longing to tear us apart

With his evil jaws

His blood red eyes were on us

At the funeral or the feast

Wedding and birth both were ripe

With the odour of the beast

As we ate the Christmas turkey

And danced across the floor

The demon’s eyes would follow us

So we laughed all the more

 The demon’s voice was in our heads

Though no-one else could hear

We couldn’t make out the words but still

The meaning was quite clear

We talked ever more loudly

Sometimes we’d even shout

We rang the bells and banged the drums

To drown the demon out

I shouted loud, but still I heard

The dread voice of the beast

His terrible howling filled my head

Begging to be released

Despite myself I listened to

The demon’s awful song

And started to feel pity for

The creature bound so long

Maybe we were monsters

To keep him bottled so

Wouldn’t it be kinder

To let the demon go?

I thought that if I freed him

He’d fly so far away

That I’d never have to hear him more

Until my dying day

The others tried to stop me

They begged me, and they cried

They hid the bottle, tried to keep

The demon safe inside

But I was deaf to their appeal

I searched and finally found

The bottle, held it high and then

I smashed it on the ground

The blinding light was such that we

Were all thrown to the floor

But as we looked, we found we saw

More clearly than before

The demon’s piercing light had left

Us with no place to hide

Our dark and secret corners lit

Our eyes were open wide

Every face around me showed

The ugliness beneath

I gasped to see the mottled skin

The yellow, twisted teeth

The bitter lines, the cruel sneers

Their mouths twisted with lies

And worst, I saw the shock I felt

Reflected in their eyes

I knew then that my face and theirs

Must look almost the same

For I was not an innocent

I had my share of blame

So I turned to the demon

And looked him in the face

No hideous monster now, instead

A shining light of grace

My heart lifted and I found

I couldn’t drop my gaze

But the others tried to hide away

From the fiery blaze

They screamed and wept but to my awe

I found myself to be

Becoming, as I was stripped away

As beautiful as he

I watched the others writhing

In their shame upon the floor

I could not help them, for they were

Now lost for evermore

I knew I’d found the thing I had

Been seeking since my youth

The answer from the bottle poured

My demon’s name was Truth.