Heathen

Art by Ariana Shaw, WTF Assistant Art Director

i found a new prophet
with hair like warm sand
and eyes of soft seaglass,
he smelled sweet as summer rain
but stung sharp and cold as snow

i found a new bible
and my prayer was his name.
i collected bits and pieces of him
in a jar on my bedside table.
like fireflies, they lit the night
while he baptized me
in sweat-stained silky sheets

i found a new religion
a strange, ephemeral veneration
that forced me to my knees.
unholy love fevered hot and bright
as i tore my soul asunder
and offered it my disfigured self.
it laughed at my jagged pieces;
and still i begged for more

i found a new god
who filled my lonely ribcage
and took up space which ached
for its former emptiness.
straining at my seams,
it burst from the inside out and
i lost myself inside the body which
i once called my own.

---

Molly Hart

What The F Guest Contributor