A Biblical Battle Poem by Katie Doty

Fey got out of bed in the mid-morning.
He looked into the sky from his window
and discerned a morning star.
His commodious mind was filled
with absent thoughts as he shuffled to his closet.
As he got dressed, the ominous and stale air
forced thoughts into his head.

He flinched as he stared behind him,
as if he could hear a shadow move.
Fey had long black hair that came down to his eyebrows
and pale skin; he was wearing a black shirt and ripped jeans,
with scuffed up grey sneakers.
He walked out of his room and then
out of the house without saying a word.
He kept his head down and put his hands in his pockets.
Though he his face implicated corrosive qualities,
his feet stately planted into the ground.
Fey heard faint footsteps walking amidst
the chaos of noise in his mind.
He whipped around and saw nothing.
He suppressed the noise of his shoes patting the ground,
and kept on his way. He walked for hours
and got very far away from home.
He found solace in being far away—
he liked the silence that the air possessed.
He heard the pitter-patter of footsteps
again in the back of his mind.
He forced himself to stay facing the front.

All of the sudden, he felt a little
tug on the tail of his shirt.
“Hey, Mister! Will you follow me? ” The boy said.
Fey anxiously turned around to find that this time,
the noise was real. “I want to show you something.”
The boy was about five. He had white sneakers,
dark brown shorts, a white t-shirt, and
curly blonde hair. Fey stayed silent with curiosity.
“C’mon, I know you ain’t got nothin’ better to do.”
“What’s your name? ” Fey asked the boy.
“M’name’s Micah, what’s yours? ” Micah started walking and
assumed Fey would follow—
which in fact, he did.
Fey.” He said softly.
Micah turned his head around to give a warm smile.
It was the pinnacle of the afternoon,
and the clouds blanketed the sun.
“Micah, where are we going? ”
“I’m gonna show you the prettiest
hill in the country—
there’s said to be the most gorgeous natural fountain there.
Couple miles north, and we’ll be there.
That mountain’s so pretty,
you oughta think it’s God’s favorite.”
Micah was an officious little boy;
Fey had never seen him before.
“Don’t you think your mom would get mad if she knew you talk to strangers? ” Fey questioned.
“Don’t you think you mom oughta get mad if she knew you were miles away from home? ”
“I’m sixteen—
I can go wherever I want.
And how do you know where I live? ”
Micah just shrugged happily
as they continued strolling.
They turned a corner and started walking out of town.

Suddenly, a tall, thin man was running rampant towards them.
He had black dress-shoes, black pin-stripe trousers,
a black dress shirt, and a fiery red tie.
Micah squealed and took Fey’s hand and started running down the road. Pretty soon, the man was upon him.
“Don’t worry little guy,
I won’t hurt you.” He said sinisterly.
“I have come to amend your life.”
He began his premeditated speech.
“The name’s Belial.” He stated his name slowly
so Fey could hear the pronunciation.
Fey replied with his name and
Belial shook his hand sternly.
They seemed to have forgotten all about Micah.
Belial proceeded to talk about the
most gorgeous city down in the valley,
just a couple miles south.
He offered a private escort along with riches, fame, and women—
for he was a prince, and princes could do anything they wanted.
Fey looked on with venal eyes.
Micah tugged on his shirt.
“Fey, you said you would go with me to the mountain! ” he whined. Belial glared at the child with an abhorring frown.
He looked as though he was about to buffet Micah,
but then breathed through his tension.
Fey felt anxious and could not believe
that this scenario was extant.
He was not a very supple person,
and did not like when strange things happened to him.
He looked at Belial,
who’s eyes seemed to glow red,
and then at Micah.
Micah looked up at him with innocence and disappointment.
He still gripped Fey’s hand.
Fey closed his eyes for a moment
and thought with indecisiveness.
It seemed as though everything in his head was silent,
as though his entire life was leading to the decision,
and as though nothing could describe the
constant battle going through his head more perfectly than this—
and he was completely and utterly lost.
He took a deep breath and opened his eyes.

Fey slowly wiggled his hand out of Micah’s and walked towards Belial.
“No! ” the child yelped as Belial smirked.
As if on cue, raindrops began to fall
and hit their heads.
Fey began his walk towards the south with the man.
Micah looked on from his stance.
The valley was so deep, it almost looked as though
the earth was swallowing them up—
as if they were being interred forever by the ground.
The more Fey stepped,
the farther back Belial was to him.
Pretty soon, he was so far he couldn’t hear his footsteps.
Fey entered a town where is seemed the once lively city,
was run down and abandoned.

The sound of crackling fire and people screaming filled his head,
but he couldn’t see anything.
Fey turned around,
and Belial was nowhere in sight.