Patron Saint of Get Me Out of Here, by Sabrina Prestes

Martyrdom of Saint Eulalia, by Bernat Martorell (Catalonia) 1442

Patron Saint of Get Me Out of Here

What does the Jesus in the museum feel
forever crucified on his X-shaped cross
Christ’s name tarnished with the spectacle of his dying image
copied a hundred times over in dark oiled gloss.

Even the other martyrs in the gallery
have to sigh and roll their eyes,
immortalized in the stupor of last breaths
—slit throats, the angels sing--
a taunt, a limbo where no one ever dies.

A tour guide stops at the torture of Saint Eulalia,
thirteen forever in the gothic walls,
a godly girl in a feudal wasteland
--It’s been 1500 years, she thinks,
let these Roman bastards kill me once and for all.

In the pitch quiet  after tourists leave,
St. Cucuphas’ gurgling cries echo down the hall,
and the Jesus clones moan at the nails embedded in the flesh.

Someone, she thinks, please spare us from this oppressive glory.

Eulalia turns her gaze away from heaven.

The dove flying out of her severed head is the way her soul at last escapes.

Sabrina Prestes 

Sabrina Prestes is a young adult author with a penchant for thrillers but a life-long appreciation for poetry. Raised in Brazil, she currently lives in Washington and is working on her debut novel while studying for a math degree.