Sestet: Venom

Sneaking and slithering, a shadow of night
Cast out and rejected, the wounds still fresh
From the harrowing onslaught, the toll of death.
It weaves and curls, whispers and spits
At its unknowing victim.  Carelessly he sits
Before the altar in the candle light.

All is quiet as the predator sneaks
To its target ahead.
It's been too long since it fed
Upon such anger, such fear,
Such a lack of the sincere.
The man bowed his head and began to speak:

"God, are you there?  It's just me.
I know we haven't talked for so long.
I'm not here to confess.  I've done no wrong,
So why am I punished all the same?
Why did You send him to put me to shame?
I didn't deserve this, don't You see?

"I know I shouldn't question Your divine will,
But I see no resolve, no other way to end.
So, prematurely, to You my soul I send.
For my troubles, it is not You who I blame,
But the one who has killed me, who brought on my shame.
It is he who I ask You to kill.

"The one who they call the Spider-Man,
He is more criminal than he is hero.
As for respect for him, I have zero.
He lies, he cheats…but over the people he's won.
No one would understand why I carry this gun.
I see him for what he is, and he is a sham!

"Never have I felt such disdain for a person!
I found the true source, his story I wrote.
They were evil, he claimed, the people he smote.
But the Spider-Man's lies shook all in a thunder.
From my job I was fired, I was labeled a blunder.
So from the world I will leave before it all worsens."

The fool raised his weapon to his coarse chin,
The revolver shook as his teary eyes clench.
His misty shadow wavered on the behind bench.
The ebony eel froze in its poise
When his eyes snapped open from a slight noise.
It was from this hesitation that the monster would win.

The darkness shot out from the above the Virgin Mary,
Clawing and screeching at the frightened man's face.
He screamed and squirmed, but the shadow made haste.
It covered his clothes, his skin, and his eyes.
He knew of no method to meet this demise.
To his body, his mind, his soul it made marry.

And all in an instant it flashed before his sight:
Visions of alien worlds and outlandish things.
One moment he had gills, the next he had wings!
And then there something appeared, something much more:
Earth's mightiest heroes and villains in space, and at war!
And at the very end stood the man of his plight.

As if he were there, Eddie stretched out his hand
To remove the mask and unveil the secret.
He felt his cool slipping, fearing he won't keep it.
The mask slid off from the hero's head,
And finally knowing the truth, they at last said:
"It's time you tasted your own venom, Spider-Man!"