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The Man Who Vanquished His Demons

by  The Walrus

Posted: Thursday, April 1, 2004
Word Count: 235




The world is good
You are good
The world is one
You are one



There was a man who was plagued by demons…

He let them in.
He listened to their
Deceptive, ego-nurturing voices.

He let them,
dance him round
in rings of hideous
nauseous circles
round and round
spinning insanely
upon their mesmerizing
merry-go-round.

He allowed them
to convince him
he was an ass,
a fool,
a nincompoop of the highest order.

He gave them carte blanche
to take everything from him,
to leave nothing
but his bones,
his skeleton.

He paid them in vital currency.
He fed them with his sanity.
He nourished them with his soul.

But, there came a time
when his demons had driven him back
so hard,
so far,
he was subsumed by
the crazy blackness,
and so the remnant of his soul
had no choice
but to hurtle him swiftly back
to a place
a time
of
One.

And, he wept
with overwhelming relief
and all that he’d forgotten
he remembered.
And he forgave himself
for forgetting.
He truly forgave himself.

And so, this man
stood squarely before his demons.
He stared them out.
Defiantly.
He didn’t waver.
He didn’t blanch.
He saw them for what they were,
fraudulent specters
willing him to fail
willing him to fall.

He had fed them plenty.
They had grown fat.

And, with a lopsided smile
a devilish glint,
he said:

Enough.