Up yonder, the sky yawns open
wide in a downpour. I suck greedy
on the silken stem of one last God
-white honeysuckle blossom & I
watch the rain close in. The hot air
crackles with pregnant apprehension.
Whether we weather this weeping
Almighty or not, still, nectar sings
from the dark altar of my tongue.
If we flood, Lord, & if we drown,
the last taste on my cracked lips
will be sweet, sweet salvation.
The rain pelts angry on my skin.
It washes me [un]clean as oblivion.
Ariadne Alexis Macquarie (she/they), originally from Western North Carolina, is an MFA student at the University of Kentucky, where she teaches. She received her BA in Creative Writing from Roanoke College. She’s an Assistant Editor for the Best of the Net Anthology and spends far too much of her free time in the woods. Her poetry can be found in Red Branch Review, Women of Appalachia, Bullshit Lit, and elsewhere. She is on Instagram @flameazaleas.