Baptize

Wading out.
I've cast stone and spell to reach you.
Can you hear my voice still, rippling out.
Boney fingertips frozen just above the surface,
stolen pinks, flesh and rose water.
I've soiled her christening gown with sin.
He touches my forehead to push me down, but I'm already gasping for air.

Falling down the staircase, I've lost my footing.
Hole in the floor, swallow me, swallow me.
From your halo comes a glow that only the evil could fear.
I'm shaking as the rafters collapse.
The walls are crawling and I put my palms up.
Rabbits burrow inside me.

I used to run through fields alone.
Sliced skin on corn stalks, sun in my eyes.
I believed so fucking hard that I could be saved.
But you never came and I'm coughing up the algae.
Coax you down, I will.
Coax you down, I will.

Saree McClaran