the luams speak of god
If there is a god, let it be the hyena
who plunges her mouth into the river after eating
our grandfather’s poisoned bait, who,
dark with thirst, poisons the river
unbeknownst to both of them.
Her ghosts stand in the street where we are called
already through “time” out of our houses. She tells
her stories. We tell her ours. We all clean our teeth
with what is sharp. She asks, Will you add this
story to your stories of history & land & peace?
Yes, we will add this story. We ask her,
Will you add these poems to your repertoire of songs
about hunger & thirst & fur? & she, being wiser than we,
says, Yes, I will sing them if
you grant me your permission
to turn them into poems about
a mercy.
Copyright Credit: Aracelis Girmay, "the luams speak of god" from The black maria. Copyright © 2016 by Aracelis Girmay. Reprinted by permission of BOA Editions, Ltd., www.boaeditions.org.
Source: The black maria (BOA Editions, Ltd., 2016)