first, put a clean blade
under your fourth rib
and jesus will crawl right out of your lungs, bearded and bushy-browed
you expect him to say what took you so long but he just
scampers off barefoot without so much as a glance at you
oh pillar of salt and tears and sweat licked off your lover’s navel (harlot harlot)
jesus escapes your body like urine
then the gods enter, sharp as nicotine
they gather under the pavilion of your throat, their braided beards turning gray
whenever you cum or cut out sections of your cervix but on sunday
sundays are the good days because god’s there the capital g- god
reaching through your fourth rib to forgive if you only beseech him child (ask ask)
ask him to kiss your throat and moan into the hard space between your breasts
ask him to taste the orphaned prayers crusted yellow around your lips
ask him
why sin smells like pomegranates
Header photo by J. Dionne.
Elena Sichrovsky is a queer Austrian-Tawainese writer currently based in the Netherlands. Her poetry has been published in Black Telephone Magazine, Honey Literary, and fifth wheel press, among others. When not writing she loves eating mandarin oranges and watching horror movies (at the same time, yes). You can find more of her work on her website or follow her on Twitter.
Such a powerful piece. To ensure that “…but on sunday” lives at the end of the same line as “cum…cut…cervix…” is both a challenge and humorous – gorgeous choice, AND that sunday is lower cased – intentional. The “harlot harlot” and “ask ask” invitations are so interesting, and the line “jesus escapes your body like urine” is so dang good, it took my breath away a bit. Really powerful piece, Sichrovsky! I checked it out as my photograph had been attached to it, and am so glad that this piece has begun my day – interestingly, a sunday! – J Dionne