ABETHA

God came to Anne Milton’s house

One wet November night to find

Satan in the kitchen drinking tea

With just a touch of something in it

To ward off the chill. Satan nodded as if

It was the most ordinary thing to see

His great friend, his eternal foe

Contracting Himself so that his head

Barely scraped against the low ceiling.

Another cup appeared; Anne filled it

Angels crowded around the house

Peering through windows, listening at doors

Having hastily made for themselves bodies

From mist or smoke or gutter-fallen leaves.

Abetha Gill, 46 ,Anne’s red-haired maid,

Drove them briskly away, saying

“This is a respectable house; we’ll not have

Angels larking about. There’s the Queen’s Head

Three roads over. It’s filled with demons

But they have manners. Pay for your drinks

And there’ll be no problems.”