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It wasn’t for the money.
Of that I’m sure
the way cancer will take your donations,
but they won’t buy its cure.
No, he must have had the Judas cell.
That hell in his heart and mind.
A cell that keeps on hating
until it kills the soul that keeps it.
But what was Judas inside of Christ?
Was he his coughs?
His fevers?
His flu?
I think he was Christ’s nightmare.
There in the garden
when all the angels left,
and from the dusk Judas came
smiling like a breathing ghost.
Yes, the dread of being kissed
by the one who hates you most.

James Miller is the author of Shell Songs (White Violet Press). He is also a singer-songwriter, and his music can be heard on jamesmillerarts.com.