To Khidr

O Khidr!  
My tricky friend  
  and true,  
my green Satan,  
my soul-destroyer...

You've pounded my heart  
into a tasty morsel,  
thrust me onto a skewer,  
and roasted me like kabob.

I never knew I could be so delicious.

The friends of God do not understand  
  my love for you.  
They think me mad, of no account;  
they imagine my joy is from  
  lack of understanding.

I tell your tales and do my part,  
but even if they hear me  
they don't listen.

As for me, I choose that  
  wild and reckless dance!  
headlong into the fire.

Turn me over the coals --  
  again, and yet again --  
that I may wear this  
  blackened char of self  
  as my crown of glory.