Leave Britney Alone
by Luke Usry
For Cara Cunningham
To know that I laughed at you, at your
Empathy and your eyeliner.
To know that I thought you were insane.
To know that my friends and I
Called you the f-word (and no,
I don’t mean the one with four letters).
To know I washed my hands of both
Your humanity and mine.
How massive was the mantle of your suffering?
How cavernous were the depths of your compassion?
I wish that I could drown him there,
This me who has turned to swine before
Countless pearls of fathomless price -
Who seems to always insist on finding
Flaws in the face of the divine.
I’d love to fill his lungs with your kindness,
Close his eyes forever with your benevolent rage.
But I know that I must crucify him instead,
He and I together.
I’ll nail us at your left and right and
Try to be the better thief.
The one who calls you by your name.
Luke Usry is a high school English teacher, husband, and father who lives and works in the Atlanta, Georgia area. His deeply ecumenical faith is rooted in Christian Mysticism and Franciscan theology. He believes that there is nothing we can do to escape the grace of God.
