Brionne Janae
THE WICKEDNESS OF GOD
saved from unbelief jesus found his daddy
in a whorehouse on a numbered street in manhattan
joseph had been coming to butterflies since mary
stopped putting out after baby number four
he was a carpenter and a man after all
and a man needs things a woman may
or may not give up – jesus respected his daddy’s
enterprise that he told no lies when they
locked eyes in the foyer each going to visit
their girl – jesus’ girl was a man named david
jesus called him his tiny king when he had david
bent over the bed moaning his name be praise –
then david would shout hallelujah messiah
*in ecstasy* good god come all over me
THE WICKEDNESS OF GOD
for love when your lover doesn’t see you
go to god for hatred when you’ve forgotten
how to hate yourself go also to god
for ecstasy when flesh simply isn’t enough
go to gospel music for boredom
when life gets too stimulating go to the such
and such begot such and such sections
of the old testament and be lulled to sleep
for envy go to Job and see how god toys
with his favorites for strength grow out your hair
like Samson and go to bed with every Delilah in your path
for vengeance pick up the sword and shield of your faith
for grief don’t go to god the lord gives and if
he wanted to he would’ve taken it away by now
THE WICKEDNESS OF GOD
if he had wanted to he woulda did it already
but obviously he like yo ass so he letting you live
and that’s the story of gods grace – the price
of sin is death everybody knows that
and yet here you is still walking around breathing
and living each day like you were promised
millions of them and yo lazy ass don’t even wanna
go to church and praise god once a week
after all he did for you shiiit couldn’t be me
I value my soul too much won’t catch me
fucking around and risking my after life
nahh you gone find Jesus on gods right hand
and me by his foot panting like a lap dog
waiting on the best treats from the table
Brionne Janae is a poet and teaching artist living in Brooklyn. They are the author of Blessed are the Peacemakers (2021) which won the 2020 Cave Canem Northwestern University Press Poetry Prize, and After Jubilee (2017) published by Boat Press. Brionne is a 2023 NEA Creative Writing Fellow, a Hedgebrook Alum and proud Cave Canem Fellow. Their poetry has been published in Best American Poetry 2022, Ploughshares, The American Poetry Review, The Academy of American Poets Poem-a-Day, The Sun Magazine, jubilat, and Waxwing among others. Brionne is the co-host of the podcast: The Slave is Gone. Off the page they go by Breezy.