The following poem by Christopher Lirette was chosen for an honorable mention by Carolyn Forché in LUMINA’s 2012 poetry contest. Now, Lirette has been kind enough to share that poem with us again, this time aloud and in his own voice. Click the play button and enjoy.

A Year Acceptable to the Lord

by Christopher Lirette

It started in summer        and we drank
ashmilk      the pillows were filled
with wisteria       a hollow bark rang
from each dog’s mouth      the water
was hungry so we threw fish      back
to appease it       when the daylight
blotted back the dim       we read
books to pretend we were not
who we were       by autumn we roasted
paper clippings obituaries      and ground
them to mix with flour and duckfat
rendered fresh       we made meal
to cook and eat       this is how we became
our ancestors and we would not worship
false idols       we would not lacquer
boxes impermeable to exodecay       diffuse
a little each day a little to the worm a little
to the marigold until we were clean
and unbroken a part of kraken and horse
of male and female      Each day thereafter
we wrung      the ink from our rocks
we ate only flesh     found deep
in cumulonimbus clouds       which thundered
at our apprehension      our tense
secret laughter      hungry as I was then
I could have eaten the world      you by you

——-

Christopher Lirette, originally from Chauvin, Louisiana, lives in Atlanta, Georgia. His most recent poetry appears in The Journal, Beecher’s, and Penumbra. He practices Hung Ga, a Southern Chinese martial art with his wife, Linda. You can follow him online at christopherlirette.com or on Twitter, @climagiste.

More Poetry Recordings on LUMINA:

Massacre at Béziers: 1209 by Jessica Cuello
The Orchard Picked Over by M.R.B. Chelko
hunters’ camp at Nxai Pan by Joey De Jesus