Beloved

Beloved
Even now,
The word conjures
Gruesome images
Rape, whipping, infanticide
And a crawling-already baby
Though the I only read the book once
Fifteen years ago

And somehow
That word's become tied
Somewhere deep in my psyche
With the horrendous, the grisly,
With things that want to make me want to puke

Because the only other
Beloved
I know
Is the one My Savior said to me
When he chose to suffer and die
Whipped, tortured, crucified
To save me