He will always be

He lurks in the places that evil fears. He builds the infrastructure of desolation. On the day the sun winks out he blows out the candle. He does not collect the souls of the evil. He ensures that they get collected. He is the only indication you need to know that you have lost. He is in others as you thought. He is in you more than you know. He is present in your hesitation as you mock him. Your prayers of salvation aren't strong enough to liberate you from him. He has forgotten more about torturing you than you remember being tortured. He will not take your life. Your suffering is his life. Pestilence, disease, and plague are some of his happier moments. He is why you hold your religious relics so tight. He is the dark that pushes the universe outward. He is the madness the psychiatrist can't save you from.

He is your neighborhood priest. May God protect us all!

~~~~~~

I once ran into the arms of a Holy man. I threw myself to him to find comfort and reason. In his compassion he smothered me. Then he bid me to thank him.

I once asked a Holy man to feed me. He welcomed me to his table and in his bounty he poisoned me.

I once went to a Holy man for friendship. I clasped forearms in Brotherhood. He closed hand around the knife in my back.

I once went to a Holy man to save me. He stood tall in his virtue as he sent the signal up for my pursuers to find me.

I once went to a man pleading for answers. His eyes flew wide as he fled from me, a Holy man.