Poetry
Ed Steck
Devil.
Devil.
Devil.
Dancing devil.
Volcano devil.
Ancient rites.
Ancient rites.
Ancient rites of the succubi.
Volcanic devil.
Evil death, Satanic.
Satanic night.
Night devil.
Nocturnal devil.
Ancient forgotten Satanic horse.
The Devil’s horse.
The Devil’s dog.
Dracula’s dog.
Vampiric dog.
Vampiric yeti.
Snake possessed by a demon.
Devil’s staff.
Devils lined up against the wall.
Devils skulking.
Devils.
Devil.
Corruptor.
Demonic hide.
Devil’s volcano.
Volcano in Hell.
Volcano full of corpses.
Volcano possessed by the Devil.
Ancient rites.
The Devil’s Book.
Evil corn, hiding a Devil.
Evil farmer.
Farmer possessed by the Devil.
Satanic farm.
Unholy farm animals.
One very quiet snake.
Devil.
Devil eating a horse.
Devil hiding in a haystack.
Devil smiling.
Devil smiling at you.
Devil sitting in the back of the room.
Devil Lucifer.
Luciferian devil of Hell.
Luciferian cave of bats.
Devil crypt.
Satanic pleasure bog.
Order a single sandwich to light on fire.
Burn food for the Devil.
Devil pumpkin.
Devil ancient screaming howl.
Antedeluvian Satan of the mutant fist.
Brutal destruction of the grave.
The grave’s mate.
The Satanic hole of mud.
Devil.
Devil.
Good morning to the bloody face.
Goat brother.
Insane devil alien.
Weird cubes in some goo.
Extreme Satan.
Satanic devil Grim Reaper.
Ripped up books covered in moss.
The Devil’s brick.
Complete rural slasher trash.
Farm of the murderous pack.
Man cultivated as a baby.
Carnival of porn.
The porn with the Devil in it.
Ancient murderous deity.
Exhumed uncle’s brain.
Insane shotgun possessed by Hell.
Necrophilia-driven pursuits of unwieldy lust.
A skeleton’s evil intent.
Giant evil mouth radiating blood.
Corpse brain.
Vomiting human.
Corpse farm.
Dog-headed skeletons eating blood.
The swampy Hell full of cemeteries.
Devil trip.
Drug volcano.
Victorious Luciferian Empire.
Ancient evil risen from the tomb.
Devil holding a stack of money.
Dead bear.
Skeleton holding a severed hand.
Skeleton made of ancient smaller skeletons.
A troll that is alive.
Trolls that serve the succubi.
Undead maniac.
Undead devil.
Devil.
Devil’s evil Hell.
Evil mountaintop strewn with flesh.
Screaming frog mutant.
Hell full of flaming trees.
Good morning to the Death Pig.
Devil drinking liquor in an armchair.
Death riding a mutant.
Insane asylum that experiments on people.
Interdimensional sentient whip.
Laughing skull covered in gasoline.
Meathook carved with runes.
Deranged ghoulish Satan family.
Western Hotel with doors carved from dead horse bodies.
Millions of evil hounds.
Satanic gears.
Factory churning out robotic bats.
Train full of dead demons.
Low-quality VHS documenting ritual death.
Pregnant Satan.
Taking acid with Satan.
Psychedelic wormhole spinning in a wound.
Collapsing iron dome.
Crypt erupting with melting horrors.
Bestial wyrm in sexual embrace.
Bestial wyrm in human form.
Smiling demon belly.
Devil in the grave.
Putrid sockets of a rotting jackal’s face.
Fang filled with blood.
Decadent rat humping garbage water.
Lustful rat.
Refuse strewn playpen.
Strays clawing at stinking holes.
Pillars wrapped in entrails.
A family that simultaneously wantonly and casually sexualizes the Devil.
Exhumed severed arm clutching a scarab.
Fire pouring out of the dead mouth of a criminal.
Luciferian imperial castle at the Black Sea.
Lycanthropic motorcycle gang orgy society.
Hairless rat lapping at a fetid pond.
Helpless mutant drowning in sludge.
Stuttering devil.
Spindly fingers caressing a dead body.
Cursed visage screaming.
Fermented jaw.
Mirror held in place by pigeon skeletons.
Burning pile of pigs.
Frankenstein’s urethra.
Mossy crypt emitting odor of rotting plums.
Devils stuffed into a coffin.
Devil’s hand holding a dildo.
Gnarled grey tree dripping blood from its branches.
Tree whose leaves are made from tanned human skin.
Tree covered in rats.
Devil vomiting rats into a toilet.
Old carpet covered in dog feces.
Insects swarming around a flaming car.
Mattress stuffed with human hair.
Foaming pestilent earth awash in filth.
Wax hand made sentient by rituals.
Ritual blood.
Ritual piercing of the flesh.
Ritual burning of the flesh.
Herbs grown in a human skull.
Satanic patterns woven into a rug.
Forest of succubi.
Malevolent dealer in cursed relics.
Cabinet decorated with carvings of the last words of the condemned.
Sex pact with a demented scavenger.
An abandoned hut discovered in the swamp.
Teeth ripping open a belly to reveal a large steel ball.
Incantations of a demonic priest.
Dreams revealing perverse knowledge.
Mad bats released upon an unsuspecting populace.
Madness of disembodied voices.
Blanket whose stitching induces lust.
Crooked call of the devil-infected.
Bowls of blood.
Bowls of bloody limbs.
Bowls of blood supped by the succubi.
Mad man with a machete.
Chainsaw-wielding cannibal children.
Children possessed by the dead souls of the mad.
Devil’s voice creeping through the fog.
Dogs braying human laughter at the moon.
Devil wearing the pelts of beloved pets.
Devil in the waves, clutching at children who have wandered too close.
Boiling rivers festooned with the severed limbs of the innocent.
Werewolf on a killing spree.
Devil riding a human thrall.
Devil in the darkness.
Night devil of terrifying power.
Devil leaning over the sleeping priest.
Devil in the field.
Devil.
Devil.
Devil.
Demonic.
Devil.
Craven demon of the country.
Demon of the day.
Demon of the harvest.
Demented harvest.
Harvest of souls by a demon.
The demon consuming souls collected in a lavender ceramic bowl.
Evil instruments that blare unholy wails.
Evil conductor imbuing orchestral music with occult messages.
Unholy spew.
Satan’s knife.
Satan using a knife to carve messages into time.
Couple burning hair for the Devil.
Prison run by cultists.
Laboratory studying zombies that are about to break free.
Demonic laboratory experimenting on humans.
Laboratory devising chemicals to drive the city mad.
Door in the basement that leads to Hell.
Eyes that reveal the truth of your death.
A mirror that bleeds.
Rustling grass hiding stalking horrors.
Plates piled high with flayed skin.
Dank pit full of prisoners.
Emaciated drifter speaking dark prophecies.
Carrion birds sitting just outside your bedroom window, watching.
Legless man crawling towards you, screaming.
Bed covered in hissing cockroaches.
Cake baked with human blood.
Mermaids that kill.
Smoking weed with a mermaid.
Smoking weed out of a bone.
Corrupted soul of a dead man.
Dead man buried inside the living body of his brother.
Witches tormenting the mayor.
Radio station controlled by the Devil.
Devil hiding in the aqueduct.
Devil dragging innocents to a watery grave.
Devil made out of cockroaches.
Devil created out of branches.
Devil crouching in the branches of a dead tree.
Fecund devil.
Devil whispering evil instructions into the ear of a patriarch.
Bonfire of infected bodies.
Conniving devil commanding an army of the dead.
The dead return to your dreams to demand vengeance.
Horrific closet full of clothes made from human skin.
Fireplace that whispers the secrets of those nearby.
Baby that can read minds.
Evil baby with superhuman strength.
A million rats streaming over the horizon.
Cloud of flying demons.
Disembodied head that appears before you.
Man with twigs for arms.
Man with rats in place of eyes.
Empty office building in which screams echo.
Teeth slathered in blood.
Dripping blood from the unhinged jaw of a snake.
Snakes crawling out of an open wound.
Mangled body dropped onto the table.
Screaming body crushed by gears.
Skin melting off a skull.
Devil’s skin.
Devil’s ancient skin.
Skin of the Devil.
Devil.
Devil.
Demonic devil.
Demonic demon of evil intent.
Demonic devil from Hell.
Ancient demon flaying the patriarch alive.
Demonic chanting carried on the wind.
City made of bones.
Man buried alive with a devil.
Clouds of smoke issue from the devil’s nostrils.
Spinal cord ripped from the body.
Crypt alive with the scurrying of emaciated forms.
Cigarettes packed with the ashes of the damned.
Smell of rotting bones permeates the air.
The crows descend.
The damned attempt to recreate society in the netherplane.
Trembling finger pointing the way to death.
Meal made from rotting food.
Finery ravaged by blood and rot.
Crumbling mansion housing an immortal crone.
Crones vigorously digging in the earth.
Swamp teeming with infected parasites.
Swamp that is alive and hungry.
Interdimensional portal in a swamp.
A city populated by the dead.
Ghostly winds howl through the dead city.
Rain that washes skin from bones.
A huge wave that’s about to wipe out an entire continent.
High-pitched growls emanate from a giant crate.
Tiny severed hand tucked under your pillow.
Gelatinous humanoid figure lumbering towards you.
Devil offering you a spoonful of soup.
Obscured, silently screaming face seen from a behind the shower curtain.
Suddenly you realize you are not alone in the bathtub.
Brain exposed through a shattered skull.
Bats picking at the twitching corpse of a demon.
The knife calls to you.
Sound of a door opening, but no other response.
Portent seen in the displayed entrails of a dog.
An evil school that teaches murder worship.
You approach the bed and don’t recognize the person sleeping there.
You approach the bed and see that it is you who is sleeping there.
Trash can full of gore.
An airplane that flies to Hell.
A high-stakes card game played by demons.
The dog begins throwing itself violently against the door.
They beckon for you to join them in the pool.
In the moon, the face of the Devil.
The laughing man brandishes a knife.
From under the floor comes a scratching sound.
Ritual sacrifice conducted in secret in the hospital.
Insatiable desire to worship the Devil.
Crawling towards Hell.
Inside the skull, a writhing mass of worms.
Devil liquid.
Psychedelic plants that unlock knowledge of Hell.
An elixir made from ground corpse skulls.
A town of children that can predict the future.
Terrible diseased voice of Satan.
Wraith shrieking from within its spectral prison.
Bloody handcuffs found in a drawer.
Devil that grants you a kiss of death.
Kissing the Devil.
Devil.
Devil.
Devil.
A single kiss from the Devil.
Your one, most secret desire made real.
Dreams from which you cannot awaken.
Fetish doll in which is trapped a demon’s heart.
A flaming demon only you can see.
Numeric code unlocking the gates of Hell.
Silent demonic presence in the gathering.
Orgy of blood and gnashing teeth.
Silent orgy of death.
A silence fell upon the land and stayed there.
Burning husks.
Repulsive visage emerging from the half-eaten carcass.
Hive of maniac terrors erupting from above.
Office building haunted by the ghost of a dead janitor.
Devil light wanders into the corner.
Devilish explosion of rancid smoke in the shape of a skull.
Devil fecal.
How old is the Devil.
The Devil unfolds a map.
Mother Earth devil.
Quiet devil.
Entrenched devil festooned in disembowelment.
Slumping devil with pants half off.
Slumping devil’s engorged testicles.
Devilish cake that creates pain.
Devil taking DMT.
Evil sprites of the forest that torment hikers.
Water devil that lives in the pipes.
Corn husks that contain severed limbs.
Devil riding a flying tractor.
The Devil in the sky, sowing discord.
Creative devil, dreaming up torturous innovations.
Coarse hood of the executioner.
Ancient Hell.
Ancient Hell of the old ways.
Mutant brood lying in wait.
Broken vase leaking foul-smelling black ichor.
Craven old fortune teller revealing a miserable fate.
Nude revelers streaked in gore.
A toilet that hides a ravenous gremlin.
Forsaken fleeing souls.
Crying devil.
Chaotic whorl.
Pain abyss.
Inferno of wailing snake people.
Murderous Gods of the old world come back to take vengeance.
Vengeance of a spurned wraith.
Demonic dog that speaks in the voice of a human baby.
A volcano in which is thrown the howling bound man.
Lake of molten metal.
Shambling creature born in a tomb.
Blood-red sand, sparkling in the heat.
Collapsing crown of human entrails.
Devil’s barbed lash.
Flaming wreckage out of which walks the Devil, unscathed.
Rag-wearing mutant corpse that lives.
Smashing fist of the stone troll.
Crow watching intently from the rooftop.
A small man seen out of the corner of your eye.
Creeping sense of unwell that only grows.
Stones arranged in a poisonous pattern.
Eyes gazing at you from within the dark of the closet.
Blood-drinking neighbor.
Lift that plummets you to Hell.
Lift’s mechanics built from dismembered bodies of the damned.
Sack of screams.
Bubbling elixir of swirling death visions.
Possessed liquor holding the dead souls of murderers.
Gnarled branch extending to a dimension of rampaging madness.
Psychopathic conspiracy of pain-addicted circus workers.
Traveling carnival that gambles for souls.
Nightly ritual of the abnegation of God.
Coins forged from ore mined in Hell.
A cage stuffed with writhing furry bodies.
A book that details a lifetime of nightmares.
A book that details how to craft nightmares using a forgotten language.
Freakish skeletons discovered buried under the shed.
Giant corpse of unknown origin.
A second house hidden within the house, in which a force is imprisoned.
Old photographs that reveal a dark secret.
Censored documents.
Censored documents tracking the Devil’s movements.
Devil.
Devil that stalks you.
Devil with a chainsaw.
Devil smoking a cigar.
Oubliette discovered under the kitchen floor.
Tree that bears mysterious fruit.
Weeping spirit lying under the bedsheets.
Maniac killer traveling through the air ducts.
Demonic killer.
Killer pledging their victims’ souls to the Devil.
Hyenas ripping apart diseased flesh.
A melon that bleeds when cut open.
Gibbering devil.
Whispers in the night.
Whispers from Hell.
Laughter emanating from within the oven.
A room full of feathers.
Drowned in a bathtub.
Drowned body sputtering back to life.
They brought something back from Hell.
Hell’s fingers strengthening their grip.
Vomiting fish.
A parasite that turns people into cannibals.
Crushing fist of the Goliath.
Twisting rope ladder leading into the abyss.
Chains hung from the ceiling, ominously.
A candelabra made of gold-encrusted limbs.
Horribly scarred cultists pounding their faces.
Sex-starved ghosts let loose upon the hospital.
The ship rocks violently as a massive form looms across its bow.
Dark sludge appears at the bottom of the glass bowl.
Smoke pours out the crooked mouth of the liar.
Hoarse, ashen wind from a devil’s esophagus.
Demon twisted in the gears of the machine.
Zeppelin painted in demonic sigils purposefully smashing into the village.
Murderous pack of feral lunatics, circling the cafeteria.
Infernal juggernaut.
Devilish demonic insect worshipper.
Belfry alive with chittering swarms of winged beasts.
Devil with a pitchfork.
Devil holding a pike and the severed head of a priest.
Dark priest of the Devil sharpening his torturous instruments.
Howling night of destruction sweeps over us.
The frost is relentless.
The wind reeks of the horrors it has borne witness to.
The heat overtakes us, burns our flesh.
Eternity of fire.
Eternity of blood.
Blades of grass awash in the blood of innocents.
Devil rising out of the grass.
The Devil arises.
The Devil approaches.
The Devil, laying down with me.
The Devil and I, together.
The crops fail spectacularly.
Evil washes over the family.
Demonic family luring travelers to their grave.
Family that sleeps in a grave.
The demons surround me, lift me up.
The demonic wings beat about my face, my body.
The grave in which I sleep.
The grave in which I sleep.
The Devil takes my head in their hands.
The Devil cradles my head, strokes my hair.
The Devil embracing me.
The Devil’s love envelops me like the rays of the sun.
Satan’s wondrous presence before me.
The awesome beauty of the Devil.
The Devil’s bestowment of truest life.
The Devil’s grace.
The graceful form of the Devil.
Satan’s favor.
The light of Satan’s choice shining down on me.
The Devil’s life courses through me.
Eternal life of the Devil.
The Devil’s force flows through my soul.
The Devil’s permission.
Feast of the Devil’s joy.
Laughter of Satan.
Beautiful Satanic laughter.
The columns shake from the Devil’s luminous presence.
I love the Devil.
I’m in love with the Devil.
I will do anything for the Devil.
Anything the Devil asks of me, it is my honor to obey.
Satan is alive in my soul.
Satan honors me.
Satan lives in my mind.
I am made whole by Satan’s life.
Satanic Devil of hellfire’s madness.
Flaming horrors of demonic war.
I am a warrior of the Devil.
I am of the Devil’s brood.
For the Devil, I would burn this world to the ground.
For the Devil, I would sacrifice all known and future happiness.
I would gladly end all existence if it would please the Devil.
For I am the Devil’s servant.
I know no allegiance but to Hell.
I know no friendship but with the Devil.
I know no music other than the Devil’s mellifluous voice.
I know no calling but to the Devil’s expanding desire.
For it is also my desire.
The Devil’s desire.
Devil.
Satanic Devil.
The Devil in me.
Satan is in me.
Satan is me.
I am the Devil.
I am the lord Devil.
I am Satan.
I am the Lord Satan.
I am the Son of the Morning.
The Morning Star.
The adversary, annointed covering cherub.
A little horn growing.
I am a little horn growing.
I am the Devil’s will made flesh.
I am Satan living.
I am the living breath of Satan.
Satanic power.
Satanic life.
Satanic beauty of my soul.
The Devil’s soul coursing through my body.
The Devil’s soul giving me power.
I am Satan incarnate.
I am Satan made real.
I am Satan’s life given shape.
I am the Devil.
I am the Devil.
The Devil is my namesake and I have carried their will into this world.
I have made the Devil live through me.
I have brought Satan into being.
I am the Devil made whole.
I am the Devil’s fist.
I am the Devil’s fist bearing down upon everything.
I am Satan.
I am Satan.
Hail Satan.
Hail the Devil.
Hail the Devil.
Hail the Devil.
Contributor
Josef KaplanJosef Kaplan is the author, most recently, of Poem Without Suffering (Wonder, 2015). He lives in Queens.
RECOMMENDED ARTICLES

Robert Motherwell Illustrating Poetry
By Heidi Colsman-FreybergerFEB 2023 | Critics Page
In his eulogy for Robert Motherwell the English critic Bryan Robertson remarked, No other artist in this century could have been quite so much in love with literature, and, above all, poetry.
44. 1960, Bad Nauheim, Germany; New York City
By Raphael RubinsteinSEPT 2023 | The Miraculous
Drafted into the US Army and sent to Germany, a 23-year-old is struck by a recent recording of the classic Neapolitan ballad O Sole Mio.
From an ongoing untitled poem for Lewis Warsh
By Anselm BerriganMARCH 2021 | Poetry
Anselm Berrigan is the poetry editor for the Brooklyn Rail. He lives and grew up in the somewhat lower part of Manhattan.
PRAISE! ALL PRAISE! JOHN SIMS PRAISE POEM!
By Bob HolmanFEB 2023 | In Memoriam
In Memory of John Sims