Devil Dancer
~

Down in hell one fateful night,
the devil had a dream.
A vivid dream of a fancy ballet,
and he, the dancing queen.

A crystal palace encrusted with gold,
a fancy fountain of pearl.
Satan, best dressed, and best smile to boot,
dancing into the hearts of the world.

The devil awoke to a deafening roar,
a unison of ten-thousand screams.
Satan got mad and blew up his alarm clock,
for breaking his beautiful dream.

He tried to fall back and continue the dream,
but he couldn't get back to his slumber.
So he stomped into hell, turning off his nightlight,
sawing no metaphysical lumber.

Hell was loud, a raucious crowd,
The devil entered slowly.
Deep underground, hell was dark and hot,
Satan couldn't see where he was going.

When he got to the front of the room and spoke,
the noise died, the silence was clear.
The devil thought fast, and concluded at last,
there was something the demons should hear.

"Fiends," he said, "demons, sundry men,
attention please, lend me your ears.
I've been having dreams, simply wonderful things,"
and he began to recount with a tear.

"This dream began not long ago,
when I heard of the afterlife ball.
Heaven and Limbo are both entering,
if we practice, we'll outdo them all.

"You see," he continued, "in my dreams there's a hall,
a great hall, lavishly decorated.
We compete in a dance with fellow victims of chance,
who have all had their souls reinstated."

One of the demons made an effort to speak,
but was silenced by a cold, furtive glance.
"You can hold your tongue until I'm done talking,
I promise, you'll all get a chance."

"Now I've already entered us into the dance,
we'll assemble here at eleven today.
I know all your faces and if you're not here,
I assure you, there'll be hell to pay."

"Any comments?" He asked them, a few hands shot up,
he pointed to a demon near the door.
"Well, you see," stuttered he,
"if hell wins the ballet, our reputation will be nevermore."

"Don't worry," said Satan, "I've devised quite a show,
it's a spectacle such to behold.
We'll dance hate into minds, we'll dance fear into hearts,
we'll dance death into all, young and old."

The demon sat down, "Any more?" Satan asked,
he looked 'round the hall clenching his fists.
The hands that were up shot back down immediatly,
the walls rung with a booming "Dismissed!"

They met and trained, some good, some bad,
some fell in buring lakes.
At last after hours attempting to dance,
Satan dismissed all the demons but eight.

"You are the best," he said, "champions of hell,
elite devil dancers supreme.
You'll be the ones who I take to the ball,
you'll be my pro-ballet team."

Some were ecstatic, some embarrassed, some shocked,
some said "say that again, I misheard you."
Some protested; however, with a bit of brute force,
Satan made them all follow through.

The training grew harder, the ballet drew near,
the dancing got better as well.
"I'm so proud of you all," spoke their lord with a tear,
"let's get out their and win one for hell."

At last the date of the dance arrived,
they showed up to the front of the gates.
They were being permitted into heaven just this once,
for the nine-zillionth afterlife ballet.

Satan walked in, dressed in velvet and gold,
demons following, all in light red.
With a tip of each hat, and a grin in each eye,
they looked, somehow, anything but dead.

"Satan!" a high, booming voice echoed out,
the devil was embraced in an instant.
"All the angels have been anticipating your arrival,
welcome back, let's converse for a minute."

The devil and God had a long chat that day,
pleasant at some points, others not.
They talked about politics, religion, and weather,
"Hell's alright," Satan said, "It's just hot."

The gates opened, once again, later that day,
and a carriage came, rolling down its window.
Out jumped a pale-faced, bored looking crowd-
the ballet contestants from Limbo.

"Hello," they all said at once, solemn and low,
"We've arrived for the ballet you see,
we don't care about winning or losing at all,
but in Limbo we've always got time free."

The competition began at three,
and Limbo took the floor.
They danced a tale about indecision,
leaving all of its witnesses bored.

The next dance came from Heaven,
it was quite a bit nicer as well.
Satan bore witness as heaven danced on,
and he saw Heaven give Limbo Hell.

At last, the fated moment came,
the angels left the stage.
The devil dancers all lined up,
the dance floor filled with rage.

Fires lit inside their souls,
darkness filled their dreams.
The rest looked on in agony,
but no one heard their screams.

Their were eighty-thousand casualties,
in heaven on that day.
The dance was so hellacious,
that their afterlifes faded away.

And now you know the story,
of when Satan took a chance.
There are never any winners,
when devils dare to dance.

- The End -