canto 23

brianna vaca | Spring 2023

you shared a cell with our father
a postcard I sent taped on the graying brick
your cervical a hook for chains and a crucifix
baroque, like what they claimed their minds were
on the seventh corner, you renounced
only their sacred bodies conserved underrobes
ornate to eyes, skin touching lead
their 9th level punishment yours in every life
but who told you that you were naked?