Pitfall Souls Poem by Patrick Frazier

The birth of a primitive before his bone structure
Will allow him to stand
With the light in his mouth

Hooks in their noses
Hooks in their ears
Hooks that ensnare messianic fish before they reach the heavens

His angel holding his heart in place
Watching animals feast on human remains
Jonah lights a candle surrounded by flesh

Her pregnant belly wrapped in cords of fabric
Holding empty baby clothes up to the sun
And attracting little yellow birds
Around her feet
She wears a cloak of stars
And so do the dead
Around her feet

The death was sudden
His soul awakens him gently
The other spirits show him his body
His little brother tip toes passed the coffin in their living room

The sick body sweats
She is dipped in the unconscious waters of the mind
Feeling around blindly for his heart in the murk
And comes up empty

A medicine man smacks a believing forehead
With a piece of wood
Until the soul the wood contains drifts back into his heart
Energy shifts between worlds
Priests with acacia altars and the resting relic bones inside

Her guardian angel was tethered to her
By a red cord scripted with light
Of the prayers she whispered in youth
But evil has powdered her face white
And painted peacock eyes across her sleeping body
The angel passes her over
She wakes in the ice coffin of her skin

Shepherds and sailors pray
Into a red horizon at night
And sorcerers will delight in the same
For love not given is lame.