You must eat it whole and hot,
open your mouth, crunch through
bone and sinew to get at the marrow.

There is no time for carving and plating –
this is a messy affair, hasty
and dripping with grease and bitter herbs.

You must eat it whole and hot
let the meat settle into your belly
let your body absorb what it will.

And when you’re all finished, when you
have been passed over and spared
the sorrow of another’s sin,

you will sort through what is left –
the pieces you can’t hold wet before you –
and you will pick up a pen,

a pillar of fire that leads you home.