martyrdom

tonight      I started walking back to you father
it was meant to be a stroll but then I started
walking faster      father      I started chanting all
the names of all the men I ever went to bed
with      father      my thighs were burning and my feet
were heavy with blood but I kept the pace and chants
of names up      father      listed them to fence posts
and the trees and didn’t stop and started getting
younger      father      and walked all night till I was home
just a spark in your groin again and told you not
to bring me back to life      told you I repented
every name and had freed them of me      father

Source: Poetry (September 2017)