Anne Sexton: The Civil War

I am torn in two

but I will conquer myself.

I will dig up the pride

I will take scissors

and cut out the beggar.

I will take a crowbar

and pry out the broken

pieces of God in me.

Just like a jigsaw puzzle.

I will put him together again

with the patience of a chess player.

How many pieces?

It feels like thousands,

God dressed up like a whore

in a slime of green algae.

God dressed up like an old man

staggering out of His shoes.

God dressed up like a child,

all naked,

even without skin,

soft as an avocado when you peel it.

And others, others, others.

But I will conquer them all

and build a whole nation of God

in me-but united,

build a new soul,

dress it with skin

and then put on my shirt

and sing an anthem,

a song of myself.