A poetry collection by Keiraj M. Gillis
Conciliatory Kiss
A gift from a father, a friend, even when given
with blessed intent, steams and burns in the
hot presence of He who gives good gifts to His
children, those gifts dancing in step to the
same song; beauty and utility twisting,
swirling, lilting, twirling, and melding in, on,
around and about a holy harmony. That gift
may be a plague on the senses if that gift and I
aren’t… getting along. But in that instant,
wherein my ire feels inextinguishable, I’m
given a kiss, and therein, He appears as a
reminder of the trove of riches of heart I’ve
been lent.
Just a Little Curse
sometimes I’m drawn to the aroma of the
extralegal, at least as it concerns what He
dictates
it smells of the ambrosial spice confluence of
gingerbread, and my sweet tooth is a wolf
fang
“just a little curse,” I ask Him, something to
make an oppressor regretful for ever having
oppressed
but I don’t receive permission, so
I decide it’s best instead to later
supplicate Him and beg, as we
do, for forgiveness
I could kill a man in Nepal from my bedroom
in Oklahoma if I really wanted to get a message
across
but, in waning moxie, I choose to color
inside the lines because I’m a pious sort
who doesn’t believe he’s Hell-
proof
after all,
what reddens an abuser hit by a stone later
blackens the thrower, or so He has taught.
Roseate Baltimorean
I’m not a blue blood—just a Baltimorean— but
no one sees that. And what someone
sees is, unfortunately, all that ultimately matters.
The opposite ends of a rainbow never meet, but
they do sometimes agree when food tastes bad.
So they spit it out as did Jesus when sipping
lukewarm water, leaving me in an in-between. I
can’t help that my cheeks turn red when I’m
embarrassed. Or that my nose turns pink when
it’s flu season. I hate the squeeze of the vise of
opposing worlds. And the claim that I’m not a
link, but rather the bastard child of both.
Keiraj M. Gillis is a gothic and spiritual poet whose works explore the mind, heart, and arcane. His poetry collections include St. Sagittarius, The Gentleman Vagrant, and Handsome for One More Day, which are works that have allowed him to document his spiritual journey. He enjoys his work as a publisher and spends his time immersing himself in the culture of the American South and Southwest.
The Carried Away 
Leave a comment