Suppertime Jesus

James Bowden, Eve Blank, Antonia Liu

You, like dialing 911 on British television, are inconsistent and, my dear, don’t be late to dinner again today because I’ll be resting the steaks at 6 o’clock sharp and drifting off into the ether of your non-presence. I wonder, have you remembered the cruciality of air tight spaces, or have you, as on occasion you do, lost yourself in tea time mania? Don’t look at me with those eyes, I’m not some unfathomable chasm of sunlight, honey: I’m simply your lover. Any sweetness of mine so irretrievably bound up in your own, who knows where each of us begins anymore, so let’s just eat: everything, everything fine, everything controllable, everything digestible (as per the metric system), and strive to avoid any semblance of sanity. We’re hungry, and I for more than you. Each evening we swallow the space between us, deliciously, carefully, not missing a single speck, and still you arrive late to our feasting.

Come, tell me what’s festering in the tall grass. What worms nibble below the surface. Was this what drove Eve to put her apple on the table? I am no rib of yours, but I will know you. I will be sated.

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The title takes inspiration from James Tate’s Goodtime Jesus. First collaborative poem between the three of us since coterie. I’m honestly a huge fan / rather proud of the last set of lines. I think it draws in part from some Langston Hughes poem, perhaps this one but not really sure. The tall grass, as in Pokemon. I quite enjoy my biblical references. Funny how that works.