Lying With Christ

by Brandon Shane

Lying With Christ

From men made sacred by omittance

time reveals all is devout: the woman

who revealed my possession dreamt

long telling of witchcraft sacrificial rituals

I may have heard chanting

as she wrote I may be a demon

as I write bleeding over ordinary things

tilt my head just under clouds

just over grasslands rises sun

the everted snake sex of dawn

her holiness deflecting curses

the curses that bore my emptiness

having invited twelve apostles

to entertain the slog

I must’ve appeared a fool

I must’ve been a saint unable to die

palms together as they razed

cock hard as they clapped

and I lied to Christ

and I told Christ I lied to Christ

and told his many believers

they are lying to Christ

more than I: here with the whores

and drunkards and chasers of gold

I search no miracles but find

funny the lack of hope or the flippant

disbelief after tragedy: I have lost

it all and fill like cisterns

taking upon all the rain

there is yet to fall.

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Brandon Shane is a poet and horticulturist, born in Yokosuka, Japan. You can see his work in Rattle, trampset, Variant Lit, The Chiron Review, Stone Circle Review, IceFloe Press, The Marrow Poetry, One Art Poetry, The Itch Lit, among others. He graduated from Cal State Long Beach with a degree in English. Find him on Twitter @HalfTheLobster

"Lying with Christ" is his second appearance in The Itch.