A mere second in the fire
conceived you,
my black embryo,
no blood,
no broken bones,
just the nerves licked clean,
a sacrament of flesh,
my Isaac offering.

For three days you fester,
my arm sore with sharp throbs,
a mini brushfire
baptizing my skin.

Day by day I watch you,
opening like a translucent rose,
revealing layers of raw flesh
laced with capillaries
alive and throbbing like fish gills.

My Easter lily,
pink resurrection,
for what sin did you atone?
Yet here you are,
soft and shiny like a new baby.
A miracle!