Inspired by “The Hound of Heaven” by Francis Thompson
The hidden chambers of my mind
I pace around without respite.
While every day and every night
I find myself in fearful flight.
The hound is near, I fear his bite.
I sneak down alleys, out of sight.
His paws are swift, his nose is keen
I must never rest, lest I be seen.
Though I know I won’t prevail, I flee
His drooling tongue and sweeping tail.
Nothing slows him, no pain or pleasure
Can slake his lust for his only treasure.
The hardened heart that beats my breast,
He soon will taste, the final test:
If he finds nothing bitter, soiled, or rotten,
He will carry my soul to the one forgotten.
But the guilty blood that runs in my veins
He smells as surely as the ground he gains.
I plead with spirits to set me free,
They always say: “no slave art thee.”
But of my self I am held prisoner,
I can’t forgive this loathsome sinner.
For I’ve betrayed the one thing in life
That could have saved me from this strife.
The crime is more than I can bear:
I was unfaithful and unfair.
Justice was a joke to me,
I no longer laugh as I flee.
I was a fool to cheat the scales,
One who tries this always fails.
Every piece you try to sneak or hide
Is doubly added to the other side.
The scales become too much to carry,
And that’s when things for me got scary.
Many drop their scales and run
Which as you can see, I have done.
It’s not long now before the holy hound
That serves the highest comes around
And takes me swiftly to his master…
Honestly, I thought he would come faster.