Bird in a Cage

I'll drop from my stentorian perch when I'm dead!


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Bird In a Cage

we met in God’s true church,
you were 34,
gold-feather-haired
and married
I was a boy who clutched my bible
wanted to be one of God‘s apostles--
callow and green I bided my time
hot in my hands the book of God,
hot as the throne I placed you on
Yeshua, Yahveh, Jehovah,
El Shaddai, Elohim--
whatever the fuck
you wanna to be called
Let me be a bird
in a cage
and I’ll sing my poems for her
we left God’s true church
seek and I shall find
I bided my time
your husband fucked up
you divorced
you baptized me
in your turquoise room
you baptized me
with your mouth
into the church
of the spoken Word
and I entered the kingdom of God
tongue first
and I became
a bird in a cage
and I sing my poems for you
You declared me
my boy genius
but I am not
the ever-after lover of your dreams
but I wanna be
more than anything
left bereft with a choice
friendship or emptiness
trying to understand
what the fuck the little moans mean
as we kiss and we cry
on the porch near the pine
beneath
a weak
Michigan moon
you gave me 3 bloody screws
that were used to lift your face.
you said go forth and write,
my boy genius--
3 bloody screws
entwined with 3 blond hairs
on a bed of gauze
and I’m bird in a cage
and I sing my poems for you.
I’ve known other kingdoms
between other legs
but theirs are not God’s kingdom
between my wife’s legs
6 years later
the bible cold on a shelf
not God’s kingdom
and I’ve remained
a bird in a cage
and I sing my poems for you.
It says somewhere in Ecclesiastes
or the Song of Solomon
that love is sweet like wine
but complicated and dark
can make you a slave
a bird in a cage
I should’ve thought about this
I didn’t think
I bided my time
seek and I shall find
master, mother, lizard, lover
and turquoise is your favorite color
not to be
the ever-after lover of your dreams
but I wanna be
more than anything
your boy genius,
3 bloody screws on a bed of gauze
the kingdom of God between your legs
the bible I tear apart into pieces
page by goddamn page
baptized me into the church
of the spoken Word
tongue first, tongue first
and I’m a bird in a cage
and I sing my poems for you
thou shalt not lust
thou shalt not have other gods before me
not to be
the ever-after lover of your dreams
seek and I shall find
the kingdom of God between your legs
tongue first, tongue first
3 bloody screws on a bed of gauze
I’ve bided my time
but I wanna be
more than anything
I’ve bided my time
I’m coming back
to Michigan soon
to hear your voice
God’s true name
to be a bird
and it’s ok
I choose
to maintain
this cage
my friend,
my muse
and for the rest of my days
I’ll sing my poems for you.