by Mallory Nygard
Devour me, O Lord and drown me. Demolish my future and crush me under your gaze. Trample the litter I leave in my wake and shatter my sense of myself. Wrack my breath and raze my fears. Sink your sharp teeth into my flesh. I dare you, O Lord, draw me in and consume me like I have consumed you. Heap on me the life that can only be lived in the space left by surrender.
Mallory Nygard lives and writes in East Tennessee. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Relief: A Journal of Art and Faith, North Dakota Quarterly, Ekstasis, Amethyst Review, Pigeon Parade Quarterly, and Ever Eden Literary Journal. Her poem “Song of Sarajevo” was named Best in Show at the 2021 Rehumanize International Create | Encounter. Her first collection of poetry, Pelican, was released in 2021.