They said she hurt them and brought them the book & then they fell into fits. When Mary’s hands are clincht together they point, cry out—Look! Mercy Lewis’ hands…

                  ties upon ties upon ties upon go somewhere                           …

                    When lifted,   it surrenders                   like a whirling dervish    …

  What are we supposed to do tonight— fancy,       wondering.     I wanted to see the kind of     crazy      we celebrate.   For the time we’re here     locked up like pretty         …

  It is time to disclose the truth. How they descended on my desk and typed a letter that made very little sense, a logic that matched their size and…

  almost green / not quite purple / pissed-off grey   looks ripe / remember   this early a.m. / the billiard games with a few Millenials   / voiced…

  oh no! / not this questioning   acquaintance again / why unwed / why no children /   in front of hers you accuse   her of being a…

  Today, the sky was completely ordinary. Just a few white clouds dispersed at random. Then,  in between, nothing but the dull blue of late afternoon. And I wanted to…

  No moon. Not even a lamb to leap the gates. No shepherd with his staff curled at the top. Thy rod and thy staff no comfort. The sheep all…

  I’m a maid in this hotel, but in my country, like most women, I helped prepare the dead for burial, and I know bodies have their own light that…

  What I remember best is the bread. A whole loaf of unsliced wheat so the pastor could tear it up   in chunks to offer to you. If you…

                “When this is over I will go home and sleep forever”               —Ammar Al-Selmo   We pray for…