Angels Drink Their Whisky Neat

It’s possibleI became humanby a divine bender— a tipsy slipof God’s handand I’m less six wings,the ability to singon key, an eye for the perfectopportunity.In a moment of excess,I was water-cut and fitted with these clumsydigits reachingonly as high as the lowest shelfof my father’sliquor cabinet. And, yet, I grabat the CrownRoyal and every bit […]

He did not weaken in faith when considering his own body

Test the strengthof your fidelityby filming your fleshat rest. Position the iPhone on a nearby deskto capture the sackof you heaved uponthe bed after a long take of day. Notice the way your hipsheap in the middleof the frame, your feetso modest, disappear off screen, your head floatsnearing the edge—a mere blipbefore you’re gone. You’d […]

Faith is the Wing-Covered Face

and feet—a steppinginto darkness to meet the fateset before youfrom a high throne or less, you can’t knowso on you goas slow as you like,glacial even, for the message you seekis beyond a vision—it’s the red-hot-coal-pressed-lipyou dive from into an abyss,and lest you doubt it,try this: close your eyes,sit motionless, look back on your first […]

The Angel of Agony

is timely. Arrivesfor coffee, blackat 7:30—a shrill bell ringinghis entrance.He now sits opposite me in a strikingpin-stripeto commencemy daily torture. What adept skillhe employsscrollinghis newsfeed— each wrist-twistpurposefuleach pausesqueezing my chest. How easilyhe occupieshis bench,back straight as a waterboard,hair sharpas a thumbscrew.I pray every nervebe blind or numb,but damnif I can’t smell his aftershave—an enduringwhiffof purgatory. […]

Hot Air

Saint Cyril says to considerarchangels, powers, dominions but I can’trise above the kiddie pool in the backyard brimmingafter a week of rain. How the inflatable ballriding the water’s edge rouses my dull imaginationto life. Not the sheer probability of a fall—rather, the attainable height of contained breath when liftedfrom beneath. I think of Christ’s empty […]

The Shadow of Your Wings

When I fall from orbitforty minutes beforethe sounding alarm, no one tracks my plummet to the toilet or helps searchthe ship of my bodyfor the eject buttonreturning me to that trajectory where I wascircling my pillowin a dream of birdsor angels or some winged revelation revolvingthe heavens, now lostin this plungeto flesh. I try to recoveratmosphere […]

Winter Wheat

How generous the handsowing this sidewalk,these slanted roofs, the Subaruparked at the curb. The gray bag of cloud stretchedoverhead seems bottomlessas someone spreads another fistfulover eave and branch. Even my cap and sleeves receive their shareduring my morning walk—everywhere glimmeringwith the possibility of harvest. Listen—hear the far offsharpening of sound,the honing of sickle and blade. […]

Plenum

Someone is always seekingtreasure or a roadrunnerin those old cartoonswhen a heavy anvil fallsfrom the sky or a hammer slipsfrom a bumped shelfto land upon a skullthen encircled with stars. In later versionsthat shimmering ringgives wayto tiny birds chirpingin tight turns overhead as it did for those shepherdsoutside Bethlehem—the twinkletransformed into wing and songuntil everywhere […]

Do Not Despise the Day of Small Things

You will want to knowit was a paring knifebut not a pear, ratheran apple of less than average sizeI was preparingwhen I slicedmy finger. Yes— the pinky—as you likely surmisedthe blade’s incisionfrictionless and quick. I flew to the half-bathapplied tissue and pressurewithout vitriolbut bled through just a drop at firstthen anotherin the porcelain sink.But this […]

Amur Cork Tree

The male of the species outsidemy window is beautifulin mid-summer with his abundantpanicles bearing flowerslike a 4th of July fireworks show. Something inside me sparkswhen the petals start to snowthe unsuspecting sidewalk.It’s not nostalgia for winterrather, the glimmer of letting gothat carries me like so muchtossed confetti. The ground beesunderstand as they roll with abandonin […]