we need a god who sits behind a keyboard
in a dive bar every tuesday wearing a glittery blue
button-down shirt to roast the patrons and regulars
no one exempt from wit but never subjected to fury
we need a god who makes space for plovers over tourists
who understands sex is a sin only when taken by force
we need a god who reads poems at stoplights we need
a god who won’t let us disappear become ghosts
in each other’s arms before our time we need a god
in uniform who makes the seventeen-year-old girl
get out of the steamy car walk with him
to the back point the flashlight away say
are you okay even if she doesn’t want to hear it
in that moment even if she doesn’t understand are you here
of your own free will is this the place you have come
for no other reason than you wanted it you and no one else
Header photograph © Lesley-Anne Evans.
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