Michelangelo, David and Goliath / WikiMedia Commons

Goliath must see him now,
a giant to Rome and a tender

shepherd boy– naked he came,
naked he will go –to his people.

He is poised, static in marble,
the muscle is unyielding. 

In the banner after the victory,
he waves the head of his enemy 

forgetting that day chased him
into broken hips, bending bows

and a soft bruise on his neck.
The oil calls forth kings:
(only God sees, only God hears)

His dance, an abomination
to man but God plays the tune. 

How be it that his loins so beautiful,
caved into murder? 

How be it, his loins so small made
the hands of a man wilt?

Chiseling and rocking
away the sins of David

Michelangelo,
must have waited on God.

Afua Ansong

Afua Ansong is the author of three chapbooks: Black Ballad (Bull City Press, 2022), Try Kissing God (Akashic, 2020), and American Mercy (Finishing Line Press, 2019). Her writings have appeared in the Cincinnati Review, Prairie Schooner, Four Way Review, Maine Review, and other journals. She is the founder of The Adinkra Projects which provides poetry workshops and supports emerging Ghanaian writers, and an Assistant Professor at the University of Rhode Island.