“There WERE a lot of gods,” she said, as she stepped out of the night,

her bloodied sword trailing after her in the dying of the light.

“For the injustices their reign has caused, I have cut them down.

And I will do the same to any who try to claim their crowns!”

Her lips blazed red against her blue-black skin. Her hair was a thunder cloud.

And her eyes were twin golden augers, as she stood to challenge the crowd.

Some who witnessed stared in disbelief. They scoffed and called her, “Liar!”

Others raged and called her “Witch!” and planned to set her afire.

But then a thunderous clap ripped through the sky and then another, and another.

And the ground, it heaved beneath their feet they fell and clung to each other.

A great wail began within their throats. A great howling began in the wind.

A great hymn of darkness began in the skies. And they cowered and waited for the end.

The Godslayer, now forgotten amidst this new earthly discontent,

lifted her sword skyward, her voice a haunting-sweet lament.

For it was no god nor deity that rent the world asunder

but the souls of those she had avenged as they stretched their arms in wonder.

For they had been shackled, as they lay deeply entombed.

The rage of their slain innocence mooring them to their doom.

“Awaken!” she cried amidst the storm, “Awaken, for you are free!

The Gods of old have perished upon this blade in front of me!

The longest night is over, no longer court despair!

Go! Go to your loved ones. They all await you there!”

And as she spoke a door appeared, unfolding in the clearing,

much like a spinning puzzle box appearing and disappearing.

And beyond its gates a paradise for all who would believe

That the strength of our shared differences is the greatest gift we could receive.

there were a lot of gods

in the liquor store's

refrigerated section

yellow for Mike's

hard lemonade;

pink for rose;

brown for IPA's;

red for Pinot Noir

the kind I drank

during the early days

of lockdown

when I was busy

willing the faces

of my walls

to talk back to me

to get absolutely anything

from being alone

in a room without gods

once the wine was gone

gods don't judge

until your skin turns

a certain shade of grim

the color of loneliness

and you're back

at the liquor store

opening the fridge

seeing the many faces

of decisions you can make

of lives

you can choose to live

now that the world

is once again

open

I knelt before the throne

Where the almighty sat and stared

One waiting to smother me

The other with a sword above my head

I didn't know this is what it would be like

To have the gods mad at you

For someone I thought who was my friend

They spoke of the wrongs that I committed too

I slept with many husbands

The wives all hate me now

I walked naked through the towns square

Everyone laughed and then I bowed

I read some dirty stories

I acted once I read-

And I guess you all can guess what they were

The books are on the night stand by my bed

Then when I tried to go to sleep

The Gods took me in the night

Where now I stand in heaven

Trying to toughen out the night-

I pray that they don't hurt me

I would rather be a slave

Wipe the poop from all our enemies

Have sex until the end of days

So now I beg and plead

For my soul, my life, my all

Then I watch a silver light above my head

My life flashed before my fall