437

it’s the first day
bend back for us
and claim our sanity is
not god given
but the result of hushed sieges
some victory we claimed over
our shaking wrists

pray tell us we’re not
children of pavement skipping lords
or just our parents’ names

we wanted a thousand different lips
until we were told we ought to know
the way to live
wrapped in the blankets of
our own arms

when we kneel
sling our begging tongues
to heaven
do we hear the lord or is it just
our knees scraping the floor?