A talk with the devil

Devil,
I rushed here
 to congratulate you!
  Your son outdid himself today.
Ah! What a marvel—
 leaping across the promised land
  like a festival drum
   beating only victory.

I saw him on the screen:
desert camouflage gleaming,
 tanks humming forward
  with the joy of a storm
finally finding its purpose.
 And I shouted,
  “That’s the boy!
   The covenant in motion!”

You must be clapping where you sit,
 polishing a throne of olives
  burning for him—
your golden child,
 your bright star
  rearranging villages
   as if shaping clay.

Look how he works!
 A master:
touching a neighbourhood
 and the ground leaps up
  like a student eager to please,
he gestures once,
 streets forget they ever existed.
Ha!
 What artistry!

The children ask for mercy—
he does not pause.
 Why should he?
  A craftsman cannot stop
   mid-masterpiece.

Women sob—he strides past,
 focused,
  sparkling with triumph
like molten metal
   just off the forge.

Ah Devil,
you raised him well.
 This one does not turn any cheek—
  he turns the cheek
   into a crater.
Such clarity!
 Such discipline!

And the world watches
 as he arranges the horizons
to his liking,
stacking broken prayers
 into tidy lines of smoke,
while commentators chant
 their blessings upon him.

Tell me:
 which father would not beam
  at a son so devoted
   to his family business?
Who would not boast
 at a child waking each dawn
  to tighten the covenant
   with fresh precision?

Devil,
I bring you joy.
 Your son is winning.
  The man in the tank will win.
Somewhere between olive groves
 and trembling roofs,
you must be laughing,
 so delighted
  you might crown him twice.

Ah—
to be honest
this boy
is truly
  yours.

_Majekodunmi O. Ebhohon is a Nigerian poet and playwright. He is the author of ‘The Great Delusion’, winner of the ANA Prize for Drama, 2025. He writes from Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria.
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