Garments of Skin by Jesse Keith Butler Cast out from the garden In garments of skin We begged for a pardon To enter back in This wide world rests under The thumb of its God We set out to plunder The wildlands of Nod The seal of the chrism The vellum stretched thin We bind up our wisdom In garments of skin The prayer was impatient So was the response This civilization We’ve hammered from bronze This echoing tower These wars we won’t win When night comes we cower In garments of skin The sin that awaits us Is crouched at the gate We’ve lifted our faces A moment too late We passed from the garden In garments of skin As boundaries harden The work can begin
Jesse Keith Butler is an Ottawa-based poet who recently won first prize in the ESU Formal Verse Contest. His poems have been published in a variety of journals, including Arc Poetry, New Verse Review, Dappled Things, Pulp Literature, and Blue Unicorn. His first book, The Living Law (Darkly Bright Press, 2024), is available wherever books are sold. Find him at www.jessekeithbutler.ca.
 | A guest post by
|