Idolatrous

For the ladies

Poetry
Religion
Published

December 1, 2024

Idolatrous

A woman uncoils

from a pit of evangelicals.


Her breath caresses

my winter-bruised lips.

She says


Come throw stones

at the statue of a woman,

that soft-spoken glutton,

begging for more.


I whisper back


I was the one

who chiseled out her nerves,

and I made sure they went

past the curve of her neck.

I bathed her in blood.

I gave her a name.


From her chest, a choir erupts:

      The World Is Not Our Home

      The World Is Not Our Home

      The Love, The Word


I know

I know

But capitalize on the flesh

And the bones will groan.


The choir capsizes:

      your mouth

      tastes like

silver.