The Apologia of Abdiel
Timothy Bartel
is found in book five of Paradise Lost,
when Satan calls his followers to mass
against the tyranny of God and just one punk named
Abdiel defies Satan to his face
then flies fast southward back to sanity.
I too would like to stage revolt
against the demons in my north
where passions pack like seven days of snow.
What nerve or immaterial strain induces spirits
to rebel against that old rebellion
in the welling chest? This warm afternoon
it’s past time for me to imitate some
insolent, God re-praising deed.