Words by Joe

Sleep, or try, someday kids,
and I’ll trace figures
like ripples in water
onto
your sinking eyelids.

And after,
you walk out of
the foam,
Aphrodite.
And I’ll put you flat on
your back

when you do.

It’s a trick,
I know.

God taught me how to do it.

He’s
a sallow man
eternally
limping to
catch up with the world,
stopping only to destroy
those falling further behind
than He.

I’m sorry.
Bismarck was wrong.

So sleep, or try,
Aphrodite,
and I’ll trace the figure of God
like ripples in water
onto
your wet eyelids.