Blood On Me

I let a holy man spread his blood on me.

We drank it from a cup and ate his bleeding body,

Which sits heavy, churning in my belly,

Marking me his own for all eternity.

The Blood covers me like a dripping red coat.

Metallic tang on tongue and running down my throat,

Clotting in my hair like I’m a sacrificial goat

Bleating out the sacred words by rote.

Ringing in my ears I only hear his gentle call.

In my mouth a sponge with vinegar and gall.

I thrash and fling red blobs that splatter on the wall.

Living always in this gory ritual.

I pass on through the shining Pearly Gates,

for I’m washed bloody with his seal of crimson paint.

God’s cup of blood is filled and vengeance sate:

The mark of Christ and Death that labels me a Saint.