How to take down an altar
First, remove your Mary. Take the chains from her neck.
then smack out the candles with a pillow. Stack the books
under Paul in boxes. Lift up
the snakes. uncover the faces. Take
the incense dust in both hands and cross Barbara.
Unhinge Jesus carefully, at each panel. Move
the Angels by their buttocks, not their wings.
Unplug Magdalene. Take away the black gauze
from the face of Judas. Pull the river foam
below the roses, lay it under both Moses.
Wrap Adam and Eve
in light citrus and borax. Make a clay paste
to preserve the face of God. Bury the
cigarettes. the apple peels. the meat.