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The Devil and the Hounds of Hell

Over and over in the gloom of night,
In degrees of Celsius or Fahrenheit.
From deep in the middle of a hard-won sleep,
An evil entity begins to creep.
A dark, diabolical serpentine,
Slithers and simmers along my spine.
Travelling slowly up the backbone lane,
Its burning fingers invade my brain
And breathing fire, it consumes my soul,
Infusing my body till I lose control.
There is no escaping this nightly thief,
The power of its fury is beyond belief,
As I fling those covers with a mighty kick,
And rend my garments like a lunatic,
Till I’m almost certain I’ll go insane,
That the frantic sizzling will fry my brain…

Then hallelujah! It’s over and done.
Another brave battle has been fought and won,
But darn it all, if it ain’t quite silly
Now I grab those covers cause I’m feeling chilly!

Chorus:

Wake up! Wake up! It’s time to get hot,
Another flash whether I like it or not.
He brings cheap power for his clientele,
All the way from Hades on the Hounds of Hell!

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Norma Pain was born in Liverpool, England and now lives in Parksville, British Columbia, Canada. Thirty of Norma’s poems were published by Dana Literary Society, between 2004 and 2007 and she was twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize by that same on-line poetry site. She self-published a book of rhyme in 2000 called Bulging Assets.

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12 Responses

    • Norma Pain

      Thank you for commenting Joseph. Very occasionally they come in handy but mostly I say, ‘to the Devil with them’!

      Reply
  2. Julian D. Woodruff

    Maybe “It’s too darn hot” was a song Cole Porter’s mother taught him.

    Reply
  3. Susan Jarvis Bryant

    Huge fun, Norma! I hate to admit, I can relate to the sentiment of this poem and the images you have chosen to convey these fevered nights of hellish heat are spot on… to think, I used to welcome such nights in my youth. 😉 Thank you for the giggle.

    Reply
    • Norma Pain

      Thank you for your comments Susan. It is not a subject that is widely popular or enjoyed! Evan’s depiction says it all for me…. oh dear… am I there already!!

      Reply
    • Norma Pain

      Thank you C.B. If only sympathy were a cure I would be forever indebted to you.

      Reply
  5. Paul Freeman

    To freeze out those hot flashes,
    may I advise to you,
    keep on hand a fire extinguisher,
    preferably, CO2.

    Thanks for the read, Norma.

    Reply
    • Norma Pain

      Thank you for the suggestion Paul but I think I’ll stick with my ceiling fan and ice packs! I have heard of people dying of spontaneous combustion but so far, I’m still here.

      Reply
  6. Mia

    If I did not know from the title that this poem is about hot flushes, I would say that it fits perfectly with how I feel when I go to bed after watching the news the past eighteen months.
    Yes definitely Hades and the Hounds of Hell!
    Just wanted to say that your excellent poem can be interpreted in another way.
    But isn’t that the beauty of some poems?
    Thank you for such a great poetic description.

    Reply
    • Norma Pain

      Thank you so much Mia for taking the time to comment on my ‘hot flash’ poem. I agree that the Devil and the Hounds of Hell are alive and well and continuing to fry many people’s brains to the point that they cannot see what is happening.

      Reply

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