A Reservoir of Words

Your body is no longer your own. 
Sex, on demand.
Sick? Tired?
Not in the mood?
You must submit yourself
in all things
to your husband.
[omit] the next verse from your sermons 
and wedding vows.
Mutual love, mutual submission?

Pride dreams peacefully of
quelling all threats to the Kudzu.
Paving the way that chokes out
the sun
from the Loblolly Pine and
greedily gobbling all
it can of that which provides 
sustenance and protection
to the chickadee, the nuthatch, 
the towhee, the bobwhite,
the turkey, the chipmunk, 
the squirrel.

Your body belongs to your husband
says the 30-year-old pastor, 
the rhizomes of submission 
invading the ethics of the 
young congregation.
Still impressionable, moldable. 
Become the perfect Christian wife.

Anticipate the questions before they are asked.
What if I'm sick? 
What if I have a headache?

Answer the questions before missing a beat.
That's why God created 
Tylenol.