Kindling

New England- 1690’s

“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live,”-Exodus 22:18.

Samuel took me behind the barn

and showed me my mouth could be used

for more than reciting bible verses

my hands could milk more than cows

my heart could love a man like a woman

His father found us behind the barn,

Samuel still in my mouth

He beat Samuel and cursed me as the devil’s worker

Then drug me back home and made me confess to my father

I slept with the goats that night

they tried us in the courthouse

the preacher used his own mouth to damn me

to hell with the other sinners and perverts before me

Samuel declared innocence in front of the jury

I was the witch, he said, who enslaved him

with my devil’s tongue and black soul

who made him fornicate like an animal

in the sight of god and his holy spirit

I pled innocent to witchcraft

but guilty to enjoying the touch of fellow men

Samuel showed me how to live

But he led me to my death.

They burned me behind the barn

As justice, they sought to burn the act of sin with me

bound to the fagot of sticks used for kindling

Father tied me to the pole while my mother

screamed songs of praise for god to forgive me