Where Bumbles Bounce

Demon, tread thee soft near me, I burn, your hellish progeny Born of you 'midst bumbling ire - frozen stiff with spiteful fire Every secret gained in treason begs to hone an edge of reason Ragged smile, sharpened tooth, keen to taste the salt of truth Hope, to strap a broken sandal snuffing two ends of the candle Virtue bleeds while childhood flows, dancing on the Devil's toes Roiling thick a melting measure, passion, sans its odic pleasure Nothing ventured, save a dime, the skeletons of flawless rhyme Wearing white, the mortal pall, tho' lover's lies will break the fall Unfit to garner fear's reprieves, yet far too bold for Eden leaves Stoke the cold to freeze a pyre, knighted with the moon, entire Spent, a wealth of kisses, tender, hell and gone one final bender Evil draws a first breath, faint, to shame the last gasp of a saint Waning wan its skin, unleavened, blessed to nip a drip of heaven Crown of wire, barbed and red, to force upon the heathen's head The quenching cloth thus plied with gall, exonerates the sin for all Why not espouse another crook while scorching embers overcook? And why not sell the shill's charade and barter all to bite the blade? I've won no grace, my beastly bungles, still this is MY jagged jungle Weeping veins, I thus pronounce: this is where the bumbles bounce. ~ 1st Place ~ in the "Where The Bumbles Bounce" Poetry Contest, Craig Cornish, Judge & Sponsor.