v2

Wormwood

I am a wall,
And my breasts are like towers.

In Gilead, they gather people at the gym
to watch lovers pushed off planks—
hands bound, sinkers tied to their feet—
to drown them in swimming pools
where they would wash from their groins
for eternity the sin of eloping.

Do come, let us drink our fill of love until the morning;
do let us enjoy each other with love expressions.

At my congregation, they avoid the theatrics.
The elders hold a sham trial instead.
One told my sister with a grin not to worry
for her lover had confessed
and Jehovah's purity shall prevail again.

For the lips of a wayward woman drip like a honeycomb,
And her mouth is smoother than oil.

I swear I heard my old neighbor said
she heard my sister's name last Wednesday
vibrate in her punctured eardrum
to be shunned until she repents
until she disappears in a hole
of her own digging.

But the aftereffect from her is as bitter as wormwood;
it is as sharp as a two-edged sword.

Tear you away from your father.
Tear you away from your mother.
Tear you away from your brother
Tear you away from your sister.
Tear you
away.

You have to groan in your future
when your flesh and your organism come to an end.

I am a wall,
And my breasts are like towers.

In Gilead, they gather people at the gym
to watch people pushed off planks—
hands binded, sinkers tied to their feet—
to drown them in swimming pools
for eloping with someone they love.

Do come, let us drink our fill of love until the morning;
do let us enjoy each other with love expressions.

At my church, they avoid the theatrics
but hold a sham trial instead.
The elders, they will simply disfellow.
Announce your name in front of the congregation.
So people know who to avoid.

For the lips of a wayward woman drip like a honeycomb,
And her mouth is smoother than oil.

Tear you away from your father.
Tear you away from your mother.
Tear you away from your brother and sister.

But the aftereffect from her is as bitter as wormwood;
it is as sharp as a two-edged sword.

Though shall not eff for love.
Though shall not eff for your effing unmarried love.
You will be shunned.
You will have God's wrath upon your fornication.
You effing animal.

You have to groan in your future
when your flesh and your organism come to an end.

At my church,
this is His world. Praise be.
And this world is pure.
And your body is pure.
And His wrath is pure.
As pure as this water
choking you to your grave.

The body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.

For this is the will of God, that you should be holy and abstain from sexual immorality.

For the lips of a wayward woman drip like a honeycomb,
And her mouth is smoother than oil.
But in the end she is as bitter as wormwood
And as sharp as a two-edged sword.

So that you may not give your dignity to others