DECEMBER 16, 2022 Share // I used to feel God's presence. It was just steam From the hot water It was just adoration, feigned From land, well tended From the most beautiful garden In all of the world And the earth That breathed In its early belly Which rose Which fell Back and forth Like the stretch and pull Of Cupid's bow Lived by a deity of its own Of swallows nesting in branches tall Of poppies pushed vague By children and dogs, blasé By the diamond sky In the high afternoon And by the moonlight Who tongue kissed each bed With all of its sincerity Steam Artful deception Sleight of hand Had no place Written by Nia Di Gennaro