No flagellation was permitted
before committing the psalm
to memory––
have mercy on me, O Lord––
and when a novice could recite it

without error––
my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness––

she could rise at night with the rest––
cast me not away from thy presence––

proceed to a dark room––
behold I was shapen in iniquity––

where the skirts were hitched––
in sin did my mother conceive me––

and the pocket whips bought out––
make me to know wisdom––

the intoning begun––
that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

How timid the slap?
How biting the sting?
One way lay pain,
the other, recrimination.

In the dark, her thighs were wholly her own.