Glory or the Abattoir
for M.G.S.

like a ghost of yourself
when I saw you last
you used to be among the planet’s
most beautiful women
I have photographs to prove it

something in you in need of repair
you tear yourself, you rip yourself
not flesh but spirit,
it too can tear like paper

prayers to repair, confess to repair
see a priest, say prayers
repent of sins, get rid of them
rather than live with what
are toxins in the realm of the spirit

I want your beauty back
don’t you miss it as well

looking like hell
when I see you here and there
when you used to look like someone
just visiting from heaven

putting something into your system
you shouldn’t

spit it out or shit it out or throw it up
I’ll shut up when you’re free, can fly
can of worms, can a worm fly

as little as you are,
what weight you bear,
what weight to carry


© Obediah Michael smith, 2007
11:39 p.m. 07/09/07