By turns, I read of earthly monsters and of medieval women
Lost in lurid, also gravely boring, ecstasies of God. The foul
Deeds of the former, men who murder, torture, stir up hatred
Toward their betters and the weak, seem almost to have been
Assigned as errands by that Lucifer, who, having been exiled
From heaven, seeks to share his miseries.  My share of those
Arrives through endless tales of illness-addled zealots who've
Convinced themselves that their deliriums, in fact, were visits
With and from Almighty God. His torments, coupled with
His victims' views of them as signs of grace, grow more
Off-putting with each page. I end up wondering whether
Lucifer and those cast out with him were sinful. Maybe
They had merely crossed their vain and cruel boss.