Grace

Just give it 5 weeks
and he’ll fall
hook
line
and sinker --
sinking her
to new lows
fresh blows
baby-breathing
themselves
from cheek to cheek
as she turns them
one
after
another
faced with his promises
that become her test.

And the line?
It snakes
around the block
for the double feature
star-studded bill:
the young star rising
and the seasoned leading man --
her father
fresh-faced from the junket
still acting this play
that long ago
changed casts
and left Broadway
for off off off Broadway
somewhere
on the right or wrong side
of her bed.

And the hook?
She still looks for it
in the soft flesh
of her cheek
where it inches its way
toward digestion
as first she eats
and then is eaten
by the monster
that lurks
just out of reach
of the shore.

On the sixth week
she’ll rest
alone
worrying the stone
that eclipsed her mountain
wondering again
how many times
this feature will play
across her face
what message waits for her
beneath the credits
rolling their way across hills
surrounding the lake
where locks nest
and hatch keys
that will open her
like the jaws
of the whale that housed Jonah
in preparation for his turning point --
God’s face revealing itself
as his test.