When I prayed for the devil it was with small hands
and childish devotion.
After all,
what little girl does not dream of a devoted older brother?
The older brother with a sneer.
The beauty lurking just below a murky surface.
A man who wanted to keep us together forever,
for better
or worse.
Satan is the brother I prayed for
wretched and hurting
in need of a cool head and a kind hand.
Fathers can be angry,
Siblings can need help.
Maybe I was just enough.
The Devil is not picky about the company he keeps—
there’s something dangerously inviting about that.
Madison Beckstrand was born and raised in Utah with her White adoptive family. Madison is a proud African-American member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Madison has been writing since she was thirteen years old and was the 2020 Mormon Lit Blitz winner. If you wish to contact her you can email her at Madisonbeckstrandwriting@
