the prophet reads Asher Lev

the LORD has spoken. what is there but to scream
in a special way, laugh in the special way visiting angels
never suspect. to blaze bone-fuel from marrow
to skin. to see between thin spaces with eyes attuned
to the sacred simplicity altar-ed in daily life: bread
and water, sex and cartoons­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­. every trade has her whores,
you said. but this is no easy trick: an apprenticeship
for grasping a mantle of stars, sewing a waistcoat
of wind with calloused fingers, attempting to clothe
naked children content and bound only by certain
death. perhaps we’re all sixty seconds away from salvation,
soft reprieves convincing us religion’s still a dream
worth dreaming. a holy reclamation project—the artist,
the poet, the preacher, searching for lies that scan well.

Forthcoming in Promises to Keep.

 the prophet’s wife confesses to her son

i shook him once.
grabbed him by the shoulders
as he stepped out of the shower.  

my nails drew blood.

his eyes were visionary wide.
i slapped the left side of his face dry
and asked him

how much is enough?

he didn’t answer.

Forthcoming in Promises to Keep.

the prophet calls his wife from prison after attempting to light a small satchel of kerosene-soaked money on fire and stuff it down the pants of a televangelist at a book signing

the zeal of His house
assaulted me
again

Forthcoming in Promises to Keep.

 the prophet speaks against Rilke

i am too much in the world
to make each hour holy— too small
to be in Your presence simply.
i know my will and with hushed movements
draw namelessly away from Your immensity
too weak, too old to bear the tonnage
of Your image, Your praise
or Joban consideration. i want to unfold
in a closed space, clear of Your sight—
to describe myself in detail: a darkened cityscape;
a pimpled daughter; an iced glass of beer; a barge
towing nothing but itself across a placid bay.

Previously published in Dappled Things. Forthcoming in Promises to Keep.

YHWH reveals His heart

you read this and think I Am cruel,
uncaring in universal administration.
that I miss sparrows, miscount the hairs

remaining on My servant’s head—
the last thread he clings to. you think
he is another in a long line of prophets

who must cleave tendon from bone,
abandon family to embrace Me fully.
that no prophet has ever returned

whole, if they ever returned, if home
remained at all. it’s true. not all received
chariots, but all were honored in My way.

it was a mercy I took Moses, held him to
My breast. his eyes would never see
how red promised clay could become.

I stopped Ezekiel from all his heart
would regret giving voice. time enough to see
he would never want his wife beside him

in Babylon—no place for their unborn children.
Samuel and Daniel, Hosea and Jeremiah…for all
I graciously turned My head, pretending

not to notice the small solace taken—the slight
curve of lips—when they understood, when
in time they saw, that I also lost a Son.

 

Previous version published in The Windhover. Forthcoming in Promises to Keep.