i could build a container
to carry this being
i didn't know one thing about the body yet,
about the deep foam filling my bones
because for thirteen years,
i was not literate enough
to read their faces
as they cursed prayers under their breath
it hides and flings itself and hides again
ungoverned by the lie that love
is no shield
against His mighty ginger hand or will
how horrible it is, how horrible
move me, take me away
He devised another plan
and took a nap
the neon 24-hour fried chicken sign
gleams behind the pines
you are essential joy
what if this is how Death finds us—
by luring us with what we desire?
#
Poems Cited:
1. what if BY CLAUDIA RANKINE
2. The Skokie Theater BY EDWARD HIRSCH
3. Lil Mermaidz BY TAYI TIBBLE
4. Jesus on the Iron Cross BY JIM DANIELS
5. The Memory of the Young BY MARIA HUMMEL
6. Against Heaven ["I used to pray to a man-faced god"] BY KEMI ALABI
7. The Compline BY CHRISTIAN J. COLLIER
8. Intimacy BY PAISLEY REKDAL
9. The great sea BY UVAVNUK, TRANSLATED BY JANE HIRSHFIELD
10. A Father's Work Is Never Done BY NATHAN HOKS
11. Outbreaks BY KITCHEN MCKEOWN
12. Antiphon for the Angels BY HILDEGARD OF BINGEN
Ring BY SADDIQ DZUKOGI
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Anthology of Eleos 