Oh no, they don’t just want your blood,
but any life or sign of heart,
and they will latch on in the bud,
desperate for breath, tear it apart,
find out the core and suck it dry,
leave nothing but an empty husk
before it had a chance to fly.
All through the night, and dawn to dusk,
they’re seeking, circling, drawing near
to any ember, flicker bright;
hiding in shadows thick with fear
to leap upon that passing light.

Don’t feed the vampires.
Don’t feed the vampires!
DON’T feed the vampires!!
DON’T FEED THE VAMPIRES!!!

They’re always waiting. Take a care
to practice out your self-defense
before they rush you unaware
and overturn your commonsense
to sack, consume all that is fine;
that frantic hunger will destroy
before it has a chance to shine,
or give you any hint of joy.

Don’t feed the vampires.
Don’t feed the vampires!
DON’T feed the vampires!!
DON’T FEED THE VAMPIRES!!!

#28

Copyright 2025 M. Ryan Taylor

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Note: In the opening chapter of Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer, Brother David Steindl-Rast talks about three ways we can approach the gifts life has to offer. The first of these is vampiric, where we’re so desperate for joy, or recreating past happiness, that we snuff out the life of anything that might actually bring us joy. This reminds me of an article I read in BYU Magazine some time ago about how the ‘pursuit of happiness’ is really a misguided notion (according to research) … you can do things that foster happiness, but the more you pursue it, the more fleeting it is. I’m certainly guilty of having experienced something incandescently joyful, and in my desperation to feel that again, trying to recreate that moment by doing the same thing again … of course, in trying to duplicate it, my motive has changed and ruined the attempt. So, ‘don’t feed the vampires.’

Photo: Gaelle Marcel via Unsplash

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