I meet the answering machine’s small, steady stare. “What do you do when God tells you no?” I ask. But it doesn’t answer me, so I undress for bed

“Beliefs are what you know without choosing to. Just believe.”

“But he’s genuine twenty-first-century and only faking patience.”

“Desire denied consumes”

“The whole island is spotted with derelict cottages and abandoned churches like …”