Ashes to ashes, dust to dust
“God promises to make something good out of the storms that bring devastation to your life.”
Romans 8:28.
Devastation that tastes like forbidden fruit,
That much more bittersweet with every taste.
Let there be light!
But you’re always leaving me in that dark, hollow place.
So where have you been this whole time?
& did you hear me all those times I screeched out for you?
Did you see me all the times I turned the light on,
thinking maybe you’d find your way home?
& how come for all those years you showed up but never stayed?
I have searched high & low
& I have followed that holy road
But tell me,
Like a lamb led to the slaughter,
Did you see him when he was drowning with his head above water?
& did you tell him not to call?
Oh, how the mighty fall.
The truth will set me free,
But the truth is that I can not believe
Believe in life that is no longer vibrant & vigorous,
Life that has now stripped me down to my core
Now I’m praying to a god that I don’t believe in
Praying that this serpent will set me free
& that you could have just let my father be.
Love your brothers & sisters as they come
But only if they all beat to the same drum
Flesh & blood,
you took my father
So now I no longer bother,
Bother with falling into a trap,
Traps that have been painted gold & bathed with holy water.
So now I’m here to say that I have washed my hands of this matter,
Take my head
Take my heart
Take my soul
& put them on a platter.
Skyler Bradley is a poet & author from Cape Cod. She has held a dear passion for writing from the moment she was able to put a pencil to paper. She lives by the motto of “Being fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire,” & writing has certainly set her soul on fire. She will be graduating in the near future with a degree in communications & media with a concentration in creative writing & a minor in marketing while continuing her writing career.