Devil

Into my room a devil came.
He appeared outside on the fire-escape;
no ordinary burglar, as if through air
he lifted a leg through the window-glass
and pulled his black-winged body after.

As he stole across the room I woke --
too late, he held me down.
For once he gets inside your room
a devil cannot be fought.

What did he bring? All that devils have:
despair, confusion, memory of loss.
He left them there with me.
then departed for wherever it is that devils dwell.

So I live in his aftermath,
damned, no remedy.
Devil of cities, I cannot carry this burden of years.
Return, and take back what is yours.

(1976)