-Lysz Flo 

The only church I have ever taken time to return to 

to get on my knees or knuckles 

to ask for forgiveness 

to plead my truth 

to drink the body of what I believe is holy and unholy and sacrilegious, alike

And still have hope of entering 

the holy library of prophets and healers

I revisit my ancestors 

speak to my guides 

and hold hands with my father

Poetry is where I pray for healing 

of all of my womanly blood lines

It is the only place I commune 

feel at ease and sometimes alienated 

In the varying perceptions I didn’t know I needed

God speaks through me here 

speaking in tongues comes naturally

in these words 

in these letters 

God speaks to me here

I find myself

 in ritual 

in sacrifice 

I die here

am born fragmented 

then whole

 I am a believer 

In the name of la escritura, la poema y el espiritu’s syllables