Do you know him?

“Do you know him?”
she asked, as she gouged out her eyes.

“His sled is drawn by rainbow;
his bowstring, the milky way.”

“Do you know him?”
she asked, as she broke both her legs.

“I stand on a rock
and, passing by me, his hand
covers me.
I see
only
his garment’s silken hem.

“Do you know him?”
she asked, plucking out her pubic hair.

“His fish mouth flutters;
there lies
my reflection, balanced
precariously
on the tip of his tongue.”

“Do you know him?”
she asked, as she carved out her eardrums.

“He pulls from his beard
a chain of demons
whom drunkenly
spew
Revelations.”

“Do you know him?”
she asked, as she snipped off her tongue.

“He’s just a man, Mother.
He’s just a man.”

“couldn’t leave, he is so like, like
you, I need, God has, God, God
has given me, him, couldn’t hurt
you, you, you are so much, much
in him, he is much, in we, we are
not hurting, we will, we could be-
come, I don’t love, love him any-
more, love, anymore, I, I needed
him, I, I don’t, I can’t leave him”

“Do you know me?”
I asked, as I picked up her pieces.

“Do you know me?”