On River Road
by Emily Green
the baptist church is a big brick building as square as
god’s jaw you sit there wondering
if lilac looked any good on you and no one mentions Lilith the cobwebbed
vase of fake chrysanthemum the preacher man is sweet
lipping about Lazarus how does it feel to be the ground
beneath the dead between the clouds the sun leaks
god’s love or his wrath how do we cling to the old rugged cross crows
the neighborhood drunk your heavenly husband
howdowekeepswallowingthedeadwhentheyburnonthewaydown
Mrs. Blake’s hat is different every Sunday changes like the songs on the gospel radio
your husband died
a christian his bible’s cover never as beaten as yours
so who loved god more who can keep up with who is reborn and born
and is your son as wrathful as his father
For God so loved the earth that
you got to be a sinner and the silver cross hanging around your neck
is a thorn in your side slip it off after the service Goddammit Shirley
you know love like that is
as sure as the grave is.