The Butchering of a Child

An exorcism recording
played into the night,
and pews shifted.

I found my prayer book
underneath the bunk.

I flipped open Boy’s Life
in secret while
others hummed along
and praised hymns.

I bowed my head
as we huddled
around a campfire
and roasted our sins:

wrists burst open
and scriptures spilled
screams of the possessed:

trembling we watched
a sacrificial banquet hall
waiting to prepare a child
to be crucified.

Caroline Reddy’s work has been accepted or published in Active Muse, Bethlehem Writers Roundtable, Braided Way, Calliope, Clinch, Grey Sparrow, Deep Overstock, Fresh Wods Magazine, Indefinite Space, International Human Rights Arts Festival, Journal of Expressive Writing, Literary Heist, The Opiate, Quail Bell and Star*line among others. In the fall of 2021, her poem “A Sacred Dance” was nominated for the Best of The Net prize by Active Muse. Caroline Reddy was born in Shiraz, Iran and is currently working on a collection of poems titled Shake the Atmosphere to Reclaim an Empty Moment.