Sunday Afternoons
Tanner Lee

There’s the joy of coming home.
And then there’s the rain.

Brother prepares the kitchen altar.
Fridge magnets remind us to pray.

After dad’s promotion all we eat is salmon.
Back porch crystal light stirs in gossip.

Mormon wives give life in illegal places.
Deseret silos fill with memories of old men

Asking where exactly I put my hands.
Was it in the shower or in my bedroom?

I want you to kindly remove
Every part of Utah in me.

Let me sew and string this spell.
Let me sing a soul into body.

Give me a heaven
That I can find in the dirt.

A priest, a lover
A brother, a whore.

All evil is lost in the music.
The devil dies of unrelenting laughter.

There will be no stopping for snacks
On this road to madness.

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