God said, “I give you life!”

The Devil said: “I want more than life!”

Then the sin of pride sent the demon

tumbling like crooked dice

down the stairway to heaven.

One question the Devil still asks:

“Did I fall or was I pushed?”

The fight to know consumes him.

Fred Zackel teaches literature at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. He is the author of COCAINE AND BLUE EYES and MURDER IN WAIKIKI, and these and other writings are available on Kindle.