If I Had Been Mary
I would have fallen, taken up the dust
In my helpless palms, and ground it into
My skin, the hollows of my eyes, my breast
At least until I also bled, and then more.
I would have sunk slowly down a dirty wall
Watching the stones pass upward under my hands.
Tried to scratch a hole into the dust
Where the wall met the ground and my body curled.
Pulled the wall down to cover me,
Groaned with gritted teeth unto choking,
Fisted my matted hair
And not risen.
I would have fallen, taken up the dust
In my helpless palms, and ground it into
My skin, the hollows of my eyes, my breast
At least until I also bled, and then more.
I would have sunk slowly down a dirty wall
Watching the stones pass upward under my hands.
Tried to scratch a hole into the dust
Where the wall met the ground and my body curled.
Pulled the wall down to cover me,
Groaned with gritted teeth unto choking,
Fisted my matted hair
And not risen.