A bad case of religion

he was barely old enough
to be a soldier when we met,
had already done a mountain of
hallucinogens

became obsessed with demons
shortly after he found christianity,
and began to fear for his soul
constantly,

randomly on any given day
I would find him doing
the strangest things,

checking the folds of the curtains,
looking at the glass in a picture
frame from several different angles
pacing wall to door in dismay

he would read his bible the way
he had previously read
Burroughs and Huxley,

desperate for a toehold
on a warped world,
a sick reality

longing for something
divine in humanity