Ninevah

STILLPOINT LITERARY MAGAZINE | VOL. 52 | 2021

here am I, send me

back to my kitchen table,

reheating leftovers and

settling my parents’ disputes.

here are You, standing

even when no one notices with

heads tucked inside our shirts

hitting the columns yelling no other way to live!

here You are,

even when I forget “this is your plan?”

you brought me here and “well I’m not going”

You’ll keep me going

because I can’t (I won’t!)

here I am, dispatched

back at hell, (I fell)

from grace into the belly of the beast

please don’t let me cry “collect my tears!”

myself to eternal sleep “come get me!”

I’ll stay in emptiness forever & again

but here am I,

sent to deliver this news:

you are loved and,

mom,

I forgive you.