Not for children
who dares to catch these whispers, dense as lead?
what last words, love? what were the last ones said?
will all these voices wilt when we are dead?
could someone spare a crane to lift this head?
The Lights! The Lights! phosphorous piercing shards
swarming ants the concaves of my skull
the dead the dead without a hug or wake
shieldless soldiers in the bleached white halls,
sacred scrubs and rubbers, sons and mothers,
what’s a warrior without a mask?
hand me your heft. i’ll hold it in my cask.
i will remember you
heh
hEh
HEh
i will remember you
hallowed be thy names
Catch, it’s falling Catch it quavers at my base Volcanic glub that perches on my throne don’t volley out just yet they’ll hear me now they’ll hear me in the corridors and rooms they’ll hear me at the other end of earth Engorging Wallop! Swallow Gag Constrict! I’ll crawl beneath a shadow by my bed and tuck away the temples of my head and clamp my teeth conjoining knees and chest and juice these eyes of Death and All Our Woe!
Leaden see-saw breath: concede, relent;
quiet, quiet, go and leave me light
That I may hope to see a dawn tonight.
Terrible reporters, mince-minded slugs of spunk.
You fucks, you cucks, you fuckerfuckingfucks—
Witches of Hell, concoct a name for them!
Plague their salmon sandwiches and ham!
Plague them for their waterboarding lies!
Plague them for their terrorizing volts!
Plague them as they wrench our nerves and teeth!
The mildew of despair! The tire grease!
! أَرسِل عَلَيهِم طَيرًا أَبابيلَ
Latch them by their neckties to the stake!
Boil! Broil! Sizzle! Simmer! Bake!
Hang Them From The Streetla—
Forgive me, Love,
For I did not intend to bring you here.
I’ll unlatch from your ankle, dust your sleeves,
And wave you from the bedrock. Go, be well;
I’ll go no further. Go, and we’ll talk soon.
in
out
in
out
in
out
in
out
A see-saw breath just shy of tug of war.
Our sorrows feathered fluttered in the wind.
I’ll shroud in blankets, sheets. This pillow here
The tombstone of this soft sarcophagus.
Stay and do not gaze upon the world.
g a s g a s
l e t m e b e g a s .
NOTES
hallowed be thy names The Bible KJV Matthew 6:9. Death and All Our Woe “Paradise Lost: Book 1” by John Milton. Terrible reporters President Donald Trump’s response to a question from reporter Peter Alexander. March 20, 2020. أَرسِل عَلَيهِم طَيرًا أَبابيلَ “Send against them flocks of birds” The Quran 105:3.
Yousef Alqamoussi 