Contract from The Lam by noraa kaplan

apparently
some people believe
all the promises they are made

have parents
who gave them their word
and made good on it

a christian tried to tell me my god is satan
because i don’t believe anyone’s promises
not even hers

an echo
is the daughter of a voice
a matrilineal descent

but i am my father’s daughter
and diluvian doubts all swirl
down the drain

the arc of the universe is long
but it bends towards total fucking abandonment
everything falling apart

a rainbow
shoots an arrow through my heart
from under a bush, a bowshot away

and any compact we may make
is just shrink
or circumcision

her contractions have started
she is going to deliver
and my father cuts the cord

• Spoken Word
• poetry
• Providence