all that remains of Joshua
by Katie Manning
long ago
your people
came to the sea
they
cried
for
darkness
and
he brought the sea over them
you saw with your own eyes
then you lived in the wilderness for a long time
then you
fought against you
your hands
destroyed
you
put a curse on you
blessed you again and again
and
delivered you
after these things
your god
died
you
buried him
and
outlived him and
experienced everything
Katie Manning is the founding editor-in-chief of Whale Road Review and a professor of writing at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. She is the author of Tasty Other, which won the 2016 Main Street Rag Poetry Book Award, and her fifth chapbook, 28,065 Nights, is newly available from River Glass Books. Her poems have appeared in december, The Lascaux Review, Kahini Quarterly, New Letters, Poet Lore, and many other venues. Find her online at http://www.katiemanningpoet.com.
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