I took a walk during a particularly difficult time in my life and, for some reason, began thinking about “The Grand Inquisitor” from Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov. I thought, in particular, about the idea that faith is true faith only when it occurs without proof — and how unfair that seemed. It was also unquestionably, oppressively hot, and under the August Alabama sun, those elements melted and melded together to become this poem.

Emma Bolden is the author of a memoir, The Tiger and the Cage (Soft Skull), and the poetry collections House Is an Enigma, medi(t)ations, and Maleficae. The recipient of an NEA Fellowship, she is an editor of Screen Door Review. 

X: @emmabo
I: @emmabold