By Kitty Grace (@kitty_grace_poetry)
Previous: "ur haunting me"
Dear Daughter Prophet,
Did it hurt when you were hurled from heaven's consecrated kingdom?
I can only imagine the sudden sharp
Squint
Against the harsh light that is humanity
How can these cruel husks of doomed souls be
God's creatures?
Did they believe at first?
When you spoke of your reason to be so far from home
Those ungodly humans trusted you when you delivered His omniscient message:
"Change. Change your souls for good, or God will change them for you."
The priest was droll and simpering, awed by the presence of
His favoured Dear Daughter Prophet
Did they take you in, clothe you, feed you, care for you?
And in doing so, they showed you a love never experienced by the hand that feeds
A love that was familial
You began to feel like you belonged
You, a thing of beauty and goodness, belonging with things of callousness and hardship
How quaint. How unusual. How dangerous.
Did He know?
From the moment you uttered "Dear Lord..."
Your first "Dear Lord..." in weeks,
He must have guessed with knife-sharp accuracy
Truth is momentous and screeching when it is dragged out of you
Much like God when he discovers the warmth these evil humans have shown you
The warmth that travels top to toe, like holy fire that licks instead of bites, and you
Smile at it
Usually you only smile when He tells you to.
Did you close your eyes?
When God told you these humans are bound by fate to betray you
They will turn from you one by one, He said
Like the leaves on earthly trees slowly slowly slowly turning from jade to rotting coal
His voice coaxed you to return sweet silent submissive to the right hand of your Father
No. You will not go, you thought.
"I once believed you were incapable of evil feelings, yet here you are.
Emerald in jealousy at the thought of
Other people loving me far sweeter than you ever have.
You may be my maker, but you are not my family."
"Then my back is turned forevermore."
Did you begin to feel uneasy when accosted by the village elders?
Or was it when they began to question and berate you, obsession in their eyes,
That you felt truly scared?
Perhaps they are simply curious, like the girl in that book with blonde hair and blue eyes
You had asked to read it, only to be told it was burnt
All books with any female characters were burnt yesterday, in fact, said the librarian
"Women should not see themselves in literature.
It is dangerous."
Decreed the priest, as the clammy smell of smoking words mingled with his spitting venom
Did you cry for your Father?
When the council found you to be guilty of lying in a trial that was both
Unjust and unobjectionable?
You tried to remind them of the beginning, when their faith was so strong they believed you
Blind
But they just used this as proof of your deceit
Cold, harsh evidence of dark sorcery to tamper with their perceptions
For how could a woman be of cosmic greatness? She must be a servant of Satan.
Oh, how wrong they were.
God did not answer your cries as they hung the sentence around your neck,
Heavy as iron chains
Did you beg Him to save you from the angry welting flames?
Did you beseech the humans who once opened up a Pandora's box of love,
To cease this maddening insanity?
Did it shock you when your skin blistered, hissing, as scarlet waves rose higher and higher?
Did you look out at the crowd with tears pelting those divine cheeks and notice
The children: made to watch with wide horror-filled eyes
The men: smirking with luridly sharp teeth at one heavenly woman's agonised hoarse screams
The women: silent and invisible through transparent muzzles, terrified to even breathe
"It was not me this time, but it could have been."
Did you think
"What a price to pay for loneliness"
As the black fumes stole your good soul
And God watched the fire encase your marble body in excruciating ending
From his snug throne in the sky, His own divine cheek dry and upturned
"Dear Daughter Prophet" said Eve
"I am so very sorry He did not even give you a name"