Published June 24, 2026
there is something pure about the way all the streetlights
illuminate you from the head down, halo-first, if that makes any sense.
& i am not sure if i believe in divinity, yours or otherwise,
but i am sure as hell that this is the only time
i will ever be close to an angel.
so, to satiate my hunger for knowledge, i will
bite from the only forbidden fruit i have been taught of--
the heart. let it be poisoned, let it be pure,
i will learn from the others how to form myself
into something worthy of rejecting temptation-- avarice, lust,
whatever will let me ascend from monsterdom to martyrdom.
& let me don the robes of a mother, become anew--
shed the skin of a serpent,
& become wholly holy,
a saint. left lingering, waiting for someone
to clear me of all sin. it is an insurmountable task
yet all the sycophants preach their devotion--
i am too newly rebirthed to know otherwise.
they say that i am sculpted in the image of someone who
did not love me enough-- it is the only reason i am stuck on the
side of the road. yearning-- hoping--
my hands have grown tired of clutching on to what proves you alive--
photographs-- so i will let them fly into the wind
with reckless abandon. it is fine--
i will just have to try & remember what your face looked like
& the pity that you held in your eyes.
you may treat me like roadkill-- that is all something like me deserves.
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138,538 Literary Works • 672,152 Reviews
from my lms thread : sunlit linen & wine-stained fingertips
Good morning herb 😊
I wonder if the title is a reference to some ppl only praying when they have a real need. The curbside makes me think of two things: a) you have been in an accident and need the help and b) you are waiting and are in need of passing the time.
In any case, let’s head into the poem itself :3
Oha I thought this would be a bit more religious from the name of the poem. But the only forbidden fruit the lyrical narrator has been taught is the heart? That is an interesting way to phrase this!
Ahh never mind, “something worthy of rejecting temptation”, this is a play on the sin of lust?
Tho with the christian imagery, it is strange to hear the lyrical narrator wanting to shed the skin of a serpent. Did they think themselves so low that they compare themselves to the great tempter?
Ohhh I also like this call out, sculpted in the image of someone who didn’t love you -enough-
When the line is usually that god loves you, unconditionally, if you let him? Or maybe this is the reference to a biological parent that was distant?
So my earlier assessment about having a road accident wasn’t too far off base considering the last line.
I am so curious abt the pity the narrator describes in the eyes of the person/the one they want to remember despite having led go of any earthly reminders…
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Hello there! I thought I’d drop by to leave a review on this lovely poem!
I really love the atmosphere of this. It has this apocalyptic feeling to it, and I interpreted that the narrator is standing somewhere ordinary and ugly, yet seeing everything through religious light. I especially like how the poem starts with something very visual and grounded:
This opening is gorgeous. "Halo-first" is such a good phrase, and it immediately gives the person being described this angelic qualit, but because the halo is coming from streetlights, it doesn’t feel overly soft or traditional. It’s modern, a bit grimy, but still beautiful. I also like "if that makes any sense" because it makes the narrator feel hesitant and human, as if they know they’re reaching for something too big to explain.
I love this! The contrast between "divinity" and "sure as hell" works so well. It gives the narrator a voice that feels not too polished, which I think is much more interesting than if the whole poem stayed formally religious. That last line is also really strong and because of the build-up, it lands with a lot of longing.
One tiny thing: since this opening stanza is so strong, I wonder if you could consider ending the stanza after "angel" with more finality, maybe with a period instead of carrying the same flow into the next thought. Totally up to you, of course! I just think that line deserves to be on its own.
"Monsterdom to martyrdom" is such a cool phrase. I love the sound of it, and I love how huge the leap is. The narrator wants to become holy through suffering, which says a lot about how they see themself.
I do wonder if "the others" could be a little more specific. Who are the others? Saints? Sycophants? Humans? Angels? People who have already learned holiness? If the vagueness is intentional, you can definitely keep it, but I think this could be a place to make the poem even more impactful.
I really like this! The transformation imagery is so strong. There’s something fascinating about the narrator trying on different forms of purity or rebirth. "Wholly holy" is also a lovely bit of wordplay. Here I think it fits because the poem is already so concerned with holiness, bodies, and becoming.
One thing I’d maybe think about is the phrase "become anew." It’s understandable, but it sounds a tiny bit awkward to me. Maybe:
or
"Be made anew" might fit the religious tone especially well, but that’s just a thought!
This part is really interesting because it shifts from self-transformation to being watched/worshipped by others. "newly rebirthed” is understandable too, but “rebirthed” already contains the idea of newness, so it feels repetitive. You could maybe say:
or
Though honestly, "newly rebirthed" also has a strange, unnatural sound that could fit the narrator's warped state of mind, so I’m torn!
Ouch, I love this! "It is fine" feels very much not fine, which makes it effective. The casualness of that phrase makes the grief feel more powerful for me. This also makes me look back at the first stanza differently. The person was introduced as angelic, but by the end, their pity becomes one of the main things the narrator remembers. That shift is really well done.
This ending is BRUTAL! After all the religious language, ending on “roadkill” is such a violent drop back to earth. It makes the narrator's self-image feel low. I do wonder whether "something like me" is stronger than "someone like me" here though. Something dehumanizes the narrator, which is painful and fits the roadkill image. So if that was intentional, I’d definitely keep it.
Overall, I think this is a really cool poem! The religious imagery is vivid without feeling random, and I love how you keep connecting holiness to bodies, hunger, and sin. A lot of these lines will stay with me too.
Great work! I hope this review helps!
Pru