Performed by Val Cole

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POEM:

Adam Lives in Principal
My child breathes inside of me
I am nothing when he’s born
I am woman larger than before
Like the moon plummeting to Earth when gravity falls,
sliding down beneath my back,
pushing and raising my stomach to the sky,
offering me
as I am dying star
And he is crushing me, flush against Goliath-
I am not David

I am woman, I am rib
I am half, I am copy
I am feather light and
I know who you are

You are father, priest, clergyman, and executioner
You’ve breathed in my body something dense like diamond and heavy as guilt

Jesus, I can do for you
Let me prove how I have prayed

Picture me:
Burdened by the sight of Him,
crying at your Mass
with your mass rushing over me
Like river, like mud
Like the two intertwining with the blood of your birth pouring
in my tired mouth, my broken jaw,
as I choke down my last meal-

I pray for myself
I pray for you to finally cauterize my old open wounds,
wounds I wear because I was created to
fight for you,
to be staked and struck and never
heal so the blade may
always find home

I’ve been your wife, mother, sister, lover, and
I am your soldier

You have curled up inside the dark cavern of my chest after battle
You have whispered your sins across my shattered ribcage,
hoping they would seep inside the breaks and mend bone
Next time, just lie there and try not to die
That is all I know,
how Eve survived