Nicole Yurcaba’s most recent poem to appear here was Simulacrum (July 2014).

There Are No Atheists in Infidelity
By Nicole Yurcaba

We are the infidels crossing no man’s land
molding Eastern Europe to Scandinavian skin;
absent without leave, crossing borders,
sneaking beneath limp barbed wire
that catches flesh-bits in its wolfish teeth.

Sweated, shamed, exhausted,
free,
we are unconfined love,
ill-secured passion despite geography
and when we reach the other side,
we lower ourselves, whispering,
into the body-laced trench;
shell-shock wanes.
Glass-eyed, we confront
our transgressions as we are led,
handcuffed, to the gallows
where on counts of treason
we will be hung
as “Forgive us Father”
lingers as our final plea.