At the altar of the agnostic

where jury judges the judge

where all the black sheep stray

we pray

to a gargoyle god: 

“O’ mighty Whomever 

shear me bald as buddha 

with your splintered carpenter’s hand

I am milk and meat

like all good sheep 

but eat anything

like a goat

gorged for the slaughter.”

Yance Wyatt is a two-time Pushcart Prize nominee whose work has appeared in Grain, Los Angeles Review, The Normal School, The Pinch, and Zyzzyva. He teaches at the University of Southern California, where he formerly served as director of the Writing Center. His debut novel, The Watersmith, is forthcoming from Regal House Press.