when beads of sweat roll down my forehead
and down my chin,
Christ will turn the salt into blood and back again.
this is what it’s like to love you.

i will fall for you like a dog.
with teeth snarling, mouth agape,
animalistic prowess, bleeding red.
this love is so close to God
it can’t be seen as anything but holy.

i will make my mark through prayer and kindness.
i will burn down the city of *****,
claw through freshly-dug graves,
cry to my savior,
and scream so loudly my lungs turn to ash.

i will love in a terrifying,
i will love in a startling,
i will love in a magnifying,
i will love, i will love, i will love.