Fiendishly

Very strong writing as your plot unfolded. I really like this one. That kind of spiritual dishonesty would be a fiend. You never fail to amaze.

Wow, thanks for the encouragement.  You are very supportive, and it resonates with me.  I'm glad to have association with you!  Yeah, I guess I see a bit of my own behavior and self-reflection n this.  Like I wrote in the description, it can have a lot of application.  The stanza about increased respiration can do with anticipatory excitement in general, like waiting for a response or reaction, or assuming something about your own or someone else's behavior.  That all goes into the "fiendish thievery" of someone who inquires to manipulate, or hide in secrecy because of shame, or seek out self-gratification, or other behavioral patterns based on imbalanced emotion.  I'm just trying to show that there is a sort of "balance" that goes with inquisition and acceptance, as a principle or philosophy.  When one questions, rather than accepts what's given as an answer, there is "stealing" within reasoning, and potentially, subconscious motive and intent, that goes unseen, and thus, they act out entirely observable mannerisms that are irregular.  If you have a "basis" and "sound foundation" of morality, you won't "inquire" of things that generally tend to throw you off balance, like envy, jealousy, lust, pride, covetousness, idolatry, etc.  That's a whole expo in itself, heh. Anyway, that's just some insight into the conceptualization I use in the metaphor of thievery and the idea of balance in such a thing   Thanks for the feedback.  I hope this isn't too long.  The poem can be kind of confusing or misunderstood, so I felt obligated to elaborate somewhat.  Take care!

Also, the book of John, in the New Testament of the bible, in Chapter 10, Verse 10, "The thief comes not but to steal, kill, and destroy."  That's speaking of Satanic and demonic influence.  It's a very integral part of how demonic spiritual influence works, in fascinating and captivating and astonishing perception to blow your mind or take you away, within question/inquisition, as well as temptation in general.  Like scary or mysterious things, or intense wonder that's too intense, with no basis.  The has to be "soundness" of mind.  Just some food for thought.

Thank you for explaining all that to me. I'm actually pretty proud to say I'm of sound morality, as best I can be. But I've fallen prey to lustful desire my whole life. Still do, lol. I've grown spiritually And I hope to continue. The only thing about your work is that your vocabulary is too good, I learn new words from you. I'm very happy we encourage and provide feedback to each other.

Your last statement about intense wonder or mystery would be a good poetic topic 😊

Yeah, there can be innocence in awe and wonder.  You can witness something never seen before, and be inspired or moved, like a child seeing a grasshopper for the first time.  It's not always wrong to question.  The key is to find a balance.  As children, we're given the answers, to answer the questions of the test.  Why should it be different as an adult?  It's as though some people question some very basic things, and go off the deep end, or don't realize their own motives and intents.  Just some conceptualization to consider.  Anyway, yeah, I've pondered this topic for quite some time now, and some of my poems are inspired by it.  It would definitely be a good topic to address in complete context poetically though, like you said.