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The Household Gods
Forgive me,
I have smuggled them away
from my father’s house to this sodden pitch
in the middle of my life, their names
asleep under my tongue. I have walked
beneath the heavens of false faiths
I have loved too much to leave behind.
For which I will be punished. Forgive me,
I have only words to pray with, only these idols
to line the secret study of my heart.
If there is a god he is a jealous god, a desert god,
and the mountain smokes when he is angry. For all
I do not know, I know there is no psalm
but the taste of salt, no altar other than the dark.
Issue: Winter 2020 / Volume 96/4
Published: December 3, 2020