I bit the hand that force-fed me faith,
Bitter and rotten, swallowed by my father and his father and his father before him
Served with clover and forb; seasoned with fear and consequence.
I bit the hand, exhaled, and said, “Amen.”

I ate forbidden fruit.
And my eyes were opened and I reveled in my nakedness.
I’ll be damned if God finds the gall to throw me out of paradise.
I ate forbidden fruit, inhaled, and said, “Amen.”

Yes! “Amen,” I said. For it is so because I said so.
I shook my fists before the crucifix,
Commanded, “Thou shalt not control me!”
For God is me and I am He.
I scream “Amen” and rise from off my knees.
And we…

                               …we have never been more free.

J. Edward Leonard has his hands in everything right now. You can find him everywhere.