after i met God
i remembered a warning
i left the wrong throat behind

God created an erasure poem
his absence was noted as a deprivation
there were
maggots in the communion wafers
now i recognize it as leftover cartilage

each prayer
a barrel lodged in my windpipe

with such smugness they say
the bible corners you knife to throat
i might burst into flames as a party trick

the party’s been great but i gotta go tend to my fire

my body engulfing itself
singed in sin like a forest fire

dictators in pews copying the daily sermon
greed as a snake that’s been domesticated
mice swallowed whole and i’m next in line

veins coursing with her touch
my memories include the peak and the capsize
my contempt walks itself through the chapel
stain glass mirrors my holy pleasure

cursing a remedy and a metamorphosis
walking through an open window
release breaks my fall