Oh pernicious fool, speak not unto me,

Blacken not my heart with thy vitriol,

Still thy bitter tongue, still eternally,

The whispered words of thy venomous soul.

 

Lay thy sorry wit, softly on the ground,

Let the daggers of thy feeble mouth rest,

For the worst I could offer in return,

Would still be better than thy very best.

 

Slip not behind me on this darkest night,

No fell shadow do I need or desire,

Thy presence is but an absence of light,

A phantom cast by the flickering fire.

 

Rest sorry serpent, take thy temptations,

Slander not my ear with thy wickedness,

Thy dripping fangs prick not my frustrations,

Nor malevolence cause in me distress.

 

Serpent of the pit with thy coiling words,

Let not thy foul presence be accepted,

Each utterance, each hollow promise heard,

Is recognised as lie and rejected.