Laura E. Davis

PANIC ATTACH ON EASTER, A PAEAN

I am barely treading
water inside the stone
walls of this cathedral, its
sea of heavy arches.
Candelabras are heavy
kingdoms hung in salt
water. The lips of congregants
murmur underwater slow-motion
syllables while I hold
my breath because
I do not renounce
the devil. I do not
believe in thy father.
I do not believe in saviors for sins, I do
not believe in sin. I barely
believe in myself. I believe in nothing
but my bodyÕs hard
grip on a wooden pew.
Nothing but the pulsewaves
of heat blossoming
in my throat, nothing but this
kingdom of pressure,
my fat fiery lungs.

Laura E. Davis is the author of the chapbook Braiding the Storm (Finishing Line Press 2012). Her poems have appeared in Corium, Muzzle, iARTistas, and So to Speak, among others. The Founding Editor of Weave Magazine, she teaches poetry writing and translation in San Francisco, where she lives with her partner, Sal.