Sanctification

Sanctification

Matthew J. Andrews

The book of life is written
on my back, in the raised
paths of whip lashes, and in the holy
icons depicted in the constellations
of thorn pricks on my brow.

Here’s what they don’t tell you:
the cup is sugar on the tongue,
but in the stomach it is the thrashing
of a man bound at the limbs,
purple satin shoved in the mouth.

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Matthew J. Andrews
Poet & Private Investigator

Matthew has been published in Sojourners, Funicular Magazine, Red Rock Review, The Dewdrop, and Amethyst Review, among others. He can be reached at matthewjandrews.com

Photography by Susan Wilkinson