The Devil Lies Within

By Swati Singh

The devil does not lie in the details,

It is created from them.

A person standing is a person standing wearing some clothes, some shoes,

their hair in some fashion,

You may know their name, you may know their face,

But you don't know them,

Not the manner in which they speak with their loved ones,

not the technique they use to tie their laces,

not the way they keep their bedside table.

It is within those details that a person lies,

For without them, they are but another body,

Forgotten once out of sight.

Within those details, a person is found,

And it is within them that they are lost.

You may come to love someone for their confidence,

Their smile, the mole below their eye,

Just their voice could make your heart beat faster,

Their passion for art could make you grow fonder.

And yet, you may find yourself saying:

Oh, the way they eat is untidy,

Sigh, their punctuality is questionable,

Ah, they are too carefree about the future.

They may not be so terrible, they may not be wrong, but

When such details become all you see,

You see, you’ve created your devil.

A devil from the details.

By Swati Singh