After my mother leaves, my grandmother
pulls us further
into the religion she has always known.
We become Jehovah’s Witnesses
like her.
After my mother leaves
there is no one
to say,
The children can choose their own faith
when they’re old enough.
In my house, my grandmother says,
you will do as I do.
After my mother leaves,
we wake in the middle of the night
calling out for her.
Have faith, my grandmother says
pulling us to her in the darkness.
Let the Bible,
my grandmother says,
become your sword and your shield.
But we do not know yet
who we are fighting
and what we are fighting for.