~ Delta Poetry Review ~

Daniel Edward Moore

Docent at the Redemption Museum

In the rough trade religion of monsters and gods

hunger is desire and desire is lust and lust has a

mouth so the holy can breathe.

So, when mercy tastes like barbeque sauce dripping

from well done meat, atonement will sizzle

on the mighty' s old grill, where

just smelling the smoke forgiveness leaves,

sparks of repentance from gristle and bone,

chased by a chalice of dark cabernet

distracts the throat from the number of grapes

teaching thirst the meaning of crush.

In the end it's always the tongue's

desperate way of begging the heavens for one

last storm, for legions of lovers dressed as rain

to pour hope from a trench

coat of clouds on believers whose sin their guilt

cannot save. Betrayal can be tender like Judas's neck,

who bought rope, not an umbrella.

Daniel Edward Moore lives in Washington on Whidbey Island. His work is forthcoming in The Meadow, The Chiron Review, Drunk Monkeys, Sandy River Review, Xavier Review, Third Street Review and North American Review. His book, Waxing the Dents, is from Brick Road Poetry Press.