Faith and Other Afflictions

They came over when I was sick
When mom had to go to work
I sat in his lap
As we colored inside the lines
She helped me cook
The plastic chicken and corn
Always an obedient wife
She believed in everything
Even he told us to pray
The sickness away

We twisted and turned down the roads
Brought her sprite and peanut butter
So he could keep eating her soul

I sat in the living room
Under the card table
Watching cartoons
As machines fed her air

I noticed we had the same picture
“The Last Supper”
Hanging by our table at home
But hers was framed in gold

He spent that night screaming
It’s because you never believed
She called that night
Scared
When I was already in bed
In the morning she was a full time resident
A corpse on our couch

Six months of medicine
Purging her system of him

When we found her a new place
She started calling him everyday
Told her neighbors
Her husband was a traveling preacher
But he somehow never leaves her

Drove past the crumbling house
The other day
He was getting out of his truck
Stumbled up the steps
Unlocking the front door
He never saw my mom
As she sat in the car
Cursing his name
As the impure earth
Started digesting another grave