was the nickname we gave to an aunt on my mother’s side, she
never missed a day of church and when I was shipped off to
that Hell of a catholic school I wondered would some
magician cut me off from the waist down and
stuff me into the confessional until I bled out for a cause I
never wanted to believe in? Staring at stained-glass
through violet smoke and stronger wine than they serve
at mass, someone commands the head tipped back and
the host received; someone touches your neck and tells you to
kneel with your hands tied behind your back, someone says
Angel, you’ve been so. very. Bad. Now’s the time to repent
with daily devotion. Now’s the time for penance. expiation.
atonement. self-abasement. redress. Come back until
you’ve learned your lesson, dressed all in black, breath
hitching up a skirt, and dripping holy
water the way witches learn to use candle wax. Trans
ubstantiation, we take our time trying to escape
Divinity before realizing, a bit disappointed, that it only
lasts an hour, anyways. Once fearful of
being blinded by false idols, commencement day
left me, silk in steadied hands, Saint
Irony; the one who now ties your blindfold.