On PrEP or on Prayer [“spare us your burial rites”]
By sam sax
spare us your burial rites
spare us the first rib
the flood, the resurrection
spare us your dairy & meats
your belief in a life after this one
heaven’s a city
we’ve been priced out of
our mothers fled
for more affordable children
for the price of liver
heaven wants nothing
to do with pleasure
on earth
on this
the occasion of my brother’s wedding
i need something awful
done to my body
heaven’s a boy
who wants me to crawl
through his mother’s midnight-window
heaven’s the condom splitting into light
heaven’s not a place
more a wound i make & pass through
when we’re done
he asks how many men
i’ve fucked this month
& not loved
spare me the quilt & blankets
spare me the look
in his eyes when he takes me
careful as a poison inside him
spare me the lecture
on the survival
of my body
& i will spare you
my body