It's Still Life

Marked
(a reshuffled deck of marked cards)

I. The Misfit Gospel
They come unwashed. Overplayed.
Rust in their lungs. Whiskey in their grief.
The hymn starts low —
a breath caught on glass —
and still they kneel.
Gamblers. Bruised palms open
like confession slips.

II. Communion for Sinners
The bread’s dry.
The wine tastes like railroad tracks.
Take the body. Bite down.
Blame’s baked in.
Estranged doesn’t mean exempt.

III. The Offering, Revised
You drop your ring.
Not from faith. From weight.
The plate grins.
Knows papercuts. Spreadsheets.
Knows betrayal dressed like duty.
You tithe in silence.

IV. Benediction in Smoke
Someone strikes a match.
Watches it flinch.
The music? Not music.
Dice on wood. Teeth clicking shut.
Hope forgetting how to kneel.

Still —
the dance begins again.
Blessed are the marked.
Not for the scars.
But for showing up. Anyway.