The Devil's Doll

 
to rip and rend flesh from our bones;
to make us scream, laugh at our moans,
of anguish, pain, a drain of life—
away from God, in pain, so rife,

 
black blood boils ‘neath pale scalded skin;
we know we can’t go home again
to be with friends—our family
forever, in eternity.

 
I knew one boy who, rather young,
thought parents' rules were drab and dumb.
He never listened to one word,
as all the good advice he’d heard

 
fell by the wayside, lost, ignored—
a restless lad, so very bored
with life, his school—his pets, his friends
…but here is where his story ends.

 
As disrespectful as he was,
his family loved him still, because,
he was their son, their boy, their all;
he had their backs against the wall.

 
One moonlit night, I stayed with him,
I heard a groaning from within
the bedroom where we always slept.
In moonbeam’s glow, I slowly crept

 
o’er to the spot those horrid sounds
were coming from, and what I found,
sent shivers up and down my spine,
my heartbeat ceased, as did all time.

 
For there, upon the wooden floor,
sat something now not there before.
To my stark horror, shocked surprise,
a doll stared back with my friend’s eyes.