Night Sky with Exit Wounds

by Ocean Vuong

Maybe we pray on our knees because god only listens when we’re this close to the devil.

You will always remember what you were doing when it hurts the most.

Even sweetness can scratch the throat, so stir the sugar well. —Grandma

God must be a season, grandma said, looking out at the blizzard drowning her garden.

Dear god, if you are a season, let it be the one I passed through to get here. Here. That’s all I wanted to be. I promise.

Because the difference between prayer & mercy is how you move the tongue.