Karen McCarthy
Portraits of Lovers Never Loved IX
he offered
jesus with no magdalen
to wash his own feet
flesh and sin and what sin
after, sweating and same-scented,
i mention an old childhood dream
when faith was still possible
at nine chastity means nothing
i'm leaning to walk again
on unclean feet
Bio
Karen McCarthy has lived all her life within 3 miles of I-75. Philosopher by training and librarian by profession, when not living the life of the mind she can be found enjoying her cats and her wife. You can find more of her work at Waffle Fried and the Cosmic Daffodil Journal. She is on Bluesky at klmwrites.bsky.social, sort of.