So that I may better love him

The moon in my blood
is not afraid

of the shadowy tents
of your crowded refugee camp,

the stolen doorknobs
of your childhood hospital,

the quiet drawers
of your small corporation,

the crumbling walls
of your rainbow monastery.

It calls them out by name,
locks eyes, says

Tell me why. Take me
to your leader

so that I may kiss
his shining, edgeless face.


2012
with thanks to Valerie Haugen for most of the seventh stanza