By Lawrence Hall

Word Count: 111

Rating: G

Summary: A poem about resisting Temptation

That wicked liar offers us a poisoned cup

In whose sheeny surface we see ourselves

Reflected in his cold imaginings

And not our own, in what we ought to be

There is another Cup for us, not this one

Just as there is a stone that must be moved

A bird of night to be repudiated

A thorny bush that burns, but not itself

A blessing breaks that false and bitter cup –

We share the one that God has lifted up

1 In English, let not the dragon be my guide; it appears on the medal of Saint Benedict as NDSMD