Marble and Blood

 
 
 
I had a rabbi once.

He played guitar

and sang,

and he is singing far away

from my dead town.

I had a pope once.

I liked his Instagram pics,

wore a rosary on my wrist.

I had a god once.

He tried to make me

more than I was,

which is nothing.

All I am is a history of men.

The marble and blood.

I had a father.

He gave me ash, heart

problems, cathedrals.

I can’t escape

the hallelujahs.
 
 
 

Hannah Cohen lives in Virginia and received her MFA from Queens University of Charlotte. She is the author of Bad Anatomy (Glass Poetry Press, 2018). Recent and forthcoming publications include Noble/Gas Qtrly, Glass, Calamus Journal, Cease, Cows, Yes Poetry, Tinderbox Poetry Journal, and elsewhere.