PERSON Poem: the penitent magdalen, by Lila Kassouf

red skirt woven & beaded with sullen piety,
cleaved between two worlds along the breast,
& skin the color of skull.
when the baroque loses its pomp like a child with its pacifier
torn from its hands
& the mirrored flame of time burns out
who will hold her hand? but herself –
clasped in the lap of sin.

cut the hair,
shed the dress
& fat.
make yourself a man.
blow out the candle
with that rosy temptation,
& then abandon the lip of sin.

the bone will meet the floor
when you rise.
if you cut yourself down
with that gold frame
& your reflection disappears –
well, then,
in the dark, you could be forgiven.

Author: poetryfest

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