Vengeance Intercession

Madeleine Wattenbarger

O we of multiple infirmities
              We water in which dishes were washed
Good secretary of my prayers    
              I’ll tell you how it is

I’m a poorly written first-person narrative
              Prophetic, mythic, full of sacred contradictions
I was brave once but now I’m afraid
              of the woods at night

I’m afraid of strange men and unkindness
              He wasn’t afraid of heights but he was afraid of
other profundities, the ones
              that I saw

I’ll tell you
              how it is: fallen angel, tainted worship
Prescribe him a better baptism
              Just say you’ll crush his head

Bio
Madeleine Wattenbarger is neither a nun, nor a barber, nor a college graduate, yet.