Demon Swine

When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.) Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. 33 Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him. Luke 8:26-39

As I child the wind and light caught
me filling me with dreams and fantasies looking
beyond the gray borders of my existence I fell
headlong into confusion as I grew.

My mind lost its way somewhere people stared
at me my skin itched and flaked my body burned
the broken open mysteries flooded my days like
morning light means of brightness carried my insanity.

Mt family stopped smiling lead me outside hoping
for a cure in the sunlight I screamed and tore
at myself and the tortured mess I had
become there were others inhabiting my mind
my heart filled so high with pain and grief
I could only scream and cry to know I was alive.

I lost my way and no friends came only demons
and pigs grunting and foraging they were my only
friends my nearest companions I thought
they understood me and we were the same.

My throat on fire I cried to the gentle master
who looked me in the eye and saw the pain the familiar
gross inhabitants of my world of sorrow and madness
he walked by and stopped to free me.

The crowds then came and faces open shock shown
around the craggy rocks the pigs fled from me over
the cliffs to their deaths away from my searching
eyes my hand held by the tender savior giving me
a cloak, a peaceful mind and my life back.