“The Hymn of My Brothers” by Chandler Veilleux

I have made mutinies out of words –
tried for prayer: heard as heresy: pushed
off of a steeple: turned into an altar:
I am both the fire and the flood

                                                                          But I love me enough / to burn the hair:
                                                                          an offering / for the years spent wandering
                                                                          the desert void / an investment for the day
                                                                          I believe in prayer again: then / I’ll be singing

I laid my skull on the sanctuary floor –
asked for nothing but a Pictionary coup: here is
the chopping block: the sacrificial ceremony:
I am both the Abraham and the Isaac.

                                                                          I love me enough / to raise my chin for the blade
                                                                          to slaughter with sandpaper / the skin I was given
                                                                          to break the covenant / to rend the veil
                                                                          to make the hymn pliant / again:

I believe in the power:                 mine.
I believe in the blood:                  mine.