Sam Sax

On PrEP or on Prayer

spare us your burial rites

spare us the first rib

the flood, the resurrection

spare us your dairy & meats

your belief in a life after this one

heaven’s a city

we’ve been priced out of

our mothers fled

for more affordable children

for the price of liver

heaven wants nothing

to do with pleasure

on earth

on this

the occasion of my brother’s wedding

i need something awful

done to my body

heaven’s a boy

who wants me to crawl

through his mother’s midnight-window

heaven’s the condom splitting into light

heaven’s not a place

more a wound i make & pass through

when we’re done

he asks how many men

i’ve fucked this month

& not loved

spare me the quilt & blankets

spare me the look

in his eyes when he takes me

careful as a poison inside him

spare me the lecture

on the survival

of my body

& i will spare you

my body