###Derealization on the Ski Vacation 
I look down and am surprised to see my own feet
Strapped into little boots and skis
Swish swish of their own volition
Stumbling down the mountain
I observe myself more than I am myself

Later in the moonlit hot tub
I watch the steam rise out of the water
Alive and reacting
A father sitting across from me tells his son, "We're so grateful for you."
Soft smiles, tender heart aches
I wish I could have this
I thought it would be with you

I bow my head and watch light bounce in water
Gurgling in response to the air jets
Like my feet, like the steam, like the water and the mountain
I am urged in a certain direction
Drawn together, compelled apart
Forces upon forces
Swish swish 

###In Athens,
My breakfast was the same most days
I picked a pomegranate
Sliced the skin, scraped the seeds, stained my fingers
Mixed the fruit with yogurt and honey 
And spooned it slowly
Imagining ancient women before me,
Sharing in my tastes.

My roommate liked her oatmeal 
And to warn me of damnation
"You’re not the only sinner here," she admitted
"I struggle with masturbation" 
I asked her what God likes less -
When girls touch themselves, 
or when girls touch each other.
She blushed. A sin is a sin.

Early on, our professor took us to a 
Squat square church 
And explained that its stones were Spolia
Disassembled pagan monuments 
Re-arranged atop Ilithyia’s temple
Figures renamed from Gods to Saints
A monument to the moment that
Athens turned away from the Pantheon 
And toward this other deity,
The angry Father,
Who prohibits Eve from her apples. 

The class lamented; 
Missing Gods we’d never believed 
For all of their faults, at least 
These others had appreciated 
the finer things
(pomegranates, gay sex).