Sonnet #121

Nothing's more Christian than the devil's shirt
Dancing in the moonlight like fools after candy
Mocking the devils that fume and stamp as dandies
Laughing away the fear and the dark, and what's worse
To the devil: We take all his toys, thrash them about
Cheap plastic nonsense that's abandoned to discounts
Beggar children earn better than devils; steal the horse
of the devil: tell stories fear and temptations, teach young
that evil is a posture, and can be taken off like a mask
And when the costume is empty, it has no power, no tongue
It only moves when people fill it, no devils exist, don't ask
for their black books, and when the devil is hung,
It was the man beneath the mask that did the tasks
Fear men, fear not the devils: Hell is a Christian song.