What 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Says
My doubt rests somewhere deep
between my ribcage.
It pulses, growing.
They claim this body is a temple.
That a god created it and so it is holy.
They say this,
but no one believes it.
Do you know how memory invades
the touch?
The way it snakes and slithers
quiet like a creek
but still overcomes you?
This is the genesis of my doubt.
You planted it there,
in that spot.
Your large hands
incapable of delicacy.
Harvested it there
with your Juicy Fruit lips
and the lust you stored up in
your backroom of fantasies.
This is where it grows now.
Where it’s become a garden of uncertainty.
Where even the fall of raindrops
against my skin
triggers you and your invasion of my temple.
They say this god will destroy him who destroys
god’s temple.
They say this,
but I don’t believe it.
Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep
From as early as I can remember/I’ve recited poetry/every night before bed
Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the lord my soul to keep
If I should die before I wake
I pray the lord my soul to take.
Every night/Poetry/Prayer/Promise
Every night/A revelation into forever/and a promise for eternal life
Every night/desire/fear if the poem wasn’t said/if the prayer wasn’t heard
Every night/on our knees/holding hands as one/recitation in unison/communing.
Every night/Poetry/Prayer/Promise/Love
Every night/of childhood/of becoming
Where did those every nights go/into the abyss/lost in the questioning/forgotten by a mind too twisty to comprehend/prayers/poems/promises.
I get on my knees/I recite history/I relive the feeling of my brother’s/sister’s/mother’s/father’s/hands/I get on my knees/for poetry/for prayers/for promises/I get on my knees/
to remember.
Sarah Frances Moran is a writer, editor, animal lover, videogamer, queer Latina. She thinks Chihuahuas should rule the world and prefers their company to people 90% of the time. Her work has most recently been published or is upcoming in Drunk In A Midnight Choir, FreezeRay Poetry, Dirty Chai, Crabfat, Rust+Moth, Maudlin House and The Bitchin’ Kitsch. She is Editor/Founder of Yellow Chair Review. You may reach her at www.sarahfrancesmoran.com
