About This Poem

Deliverance: A Collision of Scripture, Fury and Release

I wrote Deliverance as a way of pulling together two powerful biblical moments and filtering them through the raw energy of the Pixies track that inspired it. The poem sits at the crossroads of gospel violence and grunge intensity, drawing from the scourging of Christ and the final act of Samson as he brings the temple down. I wanted it to feel fevered, ritualistic and uncomfortably vivid, the kind of scene where faith, pain and rebellion blur into one another.

The nine tailed cat, the scalding oil, the raised hands, the shattered bones, the enchantress with her poppy smoke, the jawbone dagger. These images came from leaning into the brutality that sits inside those stories, but also from the chaotic pulse of the music. The poem is not about glorifying violence, but about exploring the moment where a person reaches the edge of themselves and chooses release over restraint. It is a reckoning, a collapse, and a strange kind of freedom.

The final act, where the pillars fall and the temple stones rain down, mirrors Samson’s last stand but carries the same frantic energy that runs through the Pixies’ song. It is destructive, yes, but also cathartic. A moment where everything breaks so something else can begin.