Iraq (every pair of eyes is overwhelming)

Nazarene

you're calling me

until you can 

see my cheekbones

you can see, you can see my

neck bones

none of this oh, oh,

none of this is OK, 

no

every drop from your mouth, every drop

let me catch it on my tongue

this milk my very marrow, many many times before I tried to chew up

more than I could bite or swallow

kissed the bark until the leaves dropped off 

your face's planes, your plain face something pure 

if not eternal, what? wipe out the bowl, that grin off your face,

that levity around water

are you crisping up by the heater? or grown warm?

you man-of-war,

you're boring holes, I can't hold this, 

I can't hold on, O mother, 

Daddy, lift me down 

I climbed so high 

I couldn't see the ground

and every pair of eyes 

is overwhelming.