I once saw an episode of PBS’s Frontline about prison inmates and mental illness and there was an interview with a (now murdered) man, Michael Grissett. I remember that he said he was haunted by the voices of the devil. And when he was asked about them, he said,
They ask me, say, “Mr. Michael Grissett, we know you’re the father of God and”- because God come in and beat them about. They say, “Where’s our cornbread at? You going to feed us today?” Say, “Get the [deleted] out of here. Hell, you wasn’t born with nothing to eat and no money, so die.” That’s what I tell the voices, the devil, the voices. So they start crying. They got a needle. They got a needle and they got a feather and they got a rope. God give it to them, a needle, a feather and a rope.
And this fascinated me. And I am not the only one one who has been fascinated.
Who are they? Why do they have a needle, a feather, a rope? How will they use them? What for?
I will use this in a story one day, to remember this man’s demons, his clairvoyance, his schizophrenia.
They have a needle, a feather, a rope.
Indeed. Do not all our demons?
