CW: transphobia in a religious atmosphere, reclaimed slurs.

in the image of god 

I priory

desecrated, overrun 
priory smeared in dust and cobwebs
we are all left to rot
for our devil-selves
and the prior wallows in grief

II hands

the priory is skeletonised 
yet the garden overflows with green
I have worked its soil with my hands
the prior refuses to eat from it now

III queer

the monks’ faces gaunt and sunken
they peer out at us, the queer
we pick vegetables from the garden

IV cut

we are the queer mendicants
god, the prior said, permitted us
to be raised under a vow of androgyny
now we grow gender in the garden
cut it at the roots and eat it whole
is what I imagine god saying to me

About the author

Iain Beck (he/they) is a poet living on Wurundjeri land. When he’s not studying, they enjoy gaming, reading about history and mythology, and cultivating a fascination with fungi. You can find them on Instagram @cambrian.cat

Photo by Arnaldo Aldana on Unsplash.