Dustin Brookshire
Dustin Brookshire (he/him) is the author of three chapbooks, the latest Never Picked First For Playtime (Harbor Editions, 2023). He is the co-editor of Let Me Say This: A Dolly Parton Poetry Anthology (Madville Publishing, 2023), which is a Nautilus silver medal recipient and was named to the 2024 “Books All Georgians Should Read” list by the Georgia Center for the Book. Find him online at dustinbrookshire.com.
Blasphemous Villanelle
You’re on a slippery slope to blasphemy,
my parents warned over our spaghetti dinner.
You should seek guidance on bended knee,
my mother advised before sipping sweet tea.
A child, arguing with parents, is rarely a winner.
I’ve been on a slippery slope to blasphemy
since learning to question. Dustin, do you see
Pangea in the Bible? I wasn’t going to bicker.
No voice would speak to me on bended knee
explaining that science is wrong. You disagree
to be different. I rolled my eyes at dinner,
which clocks for one contemplating blasphemy.
I almost turned the conversation to astronomy.
The Big Bang. An excellent conversation beginner
for a boy looking to the stars on bended knee.
Religion doesn’t trump science. The audacity!
Adult-me loves the recipe for being a sinner.
I revel in the slippery slope that is blasphemy.
It isn’t guidance I seek when on bended knee.
