the minnesota review n.s. 61-62 (2004)

Maxine Chernoff

[to bully the gods, we ask their blessings]

the hedge-priest bandies

	terms and conditions

	"I'll scratch your back"

		etc

	as when in Italy

			she seeks

	to gain

			health

	by punching

	a saint

			repeatedly

	demonology too

			requires such

			motives

	as seen on TV

		the afternoon type

				the square-jawed man

			rendezvous with the woman

			in the tawdry café

	where actors are seen

			but back to Egypt where

	gods were bullied

			out of their tombs

	into legend and myth

			then onto prayer

	a humble petition

			suggesting our reverence

			for what

				we can't own

Maxine Chernoff, author of six books of fiction and six books of poetry, chairs the Creative Writing program at SFSU and edits New American Writing with Paul Hoover.