Sessa Kratz

As Isaac Prayed For An Angel

And when she finally slept
she found him inside

each of her dreams
as though he couldn't wait

for her to wake again
and had to follow her

into countries for which
he had no passport

simply to finish a conversation
that had long ago

turned into argument
over which of them would be

the sacrificial lamb this time
ribs laid bare

between the cold stone and
the descending knife of their love.

Birthday

Death ate my father
and held me instead
in its detached embrace.
In the evening, when sleep
crumples lids like parchment,
then mine opened, a new,
wild thing. Where fingers
and toes should grow
were claws and hooves;
where there should be
no teeth the sharp
curves of incisors.
I curled and uncurled.
I yowled like a cub,
cold without fur.
The light made color
and shadow of my skin,
until the camouflage
was complete.
The wild creatures
all clapped their hands.
The dark said secretly,
This one sleeps inside of me.
I began to eat my mother;
she began to feed me.

About Sessa Kratz

Sessa Kratz is an MFA candidate in poetry at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas.