Issues

Redemption

The minister says I’m alive Through grace says  They may never know What rendered me silent He tells them to pray The spirit gives several messages In other tongues         Praise the Lord         They shout         Praise the Lord The…
Testimony

Testimony

They told the judge I sat before an open fire Fell right into it But wasn’t a hair on my head singed. They recalled my vision A prophetess wearing clothes The color of rotten grasses Grounding sage to a fine powder They said I put it in their tea Told…

Conversion

I saw I had to go down to the devil’s hell That was my home. I didn’t want to give up Worldly things but when the Lord got me ready I came leaping and jumping. I fell down on my knees And said “Lord if you will save me I’ll…

The Witch

We try the old ways Wild geranium  To stop the bleeding Devil’s clothesline  For the burns and sores But our apron strings fall Loose our shoes will not stay Tied the beds rise up We wind up on the floor The clothes hung on the line  Torn off till all…

Slow Heat

High strung They called her Unsettled We come home She’d clawed her a notch  Jerked the planks right out Said the witch needed her. Ginseng they said Ease the hippo Help her sleep Start slow Build the dose None of us knew What it would take To smother her.

Limited Creatures

He is an outlier as well for all I know, another seizing an opportunity likely to be all-too-rare in weeks, as the ice lays claim to open water, swooping down from his grey and bony precipice to grasp a remnant (something left behind by his careless neighbors) and a shivering…