ordered. fit into neat little boxes.
trimmed, when you should be growing
wild
shake hands with the fungi and throw
your heads in the wind
sink roots deep into soil
which does not get washed away
remade,
every year. some spiritual cleansing
you're deprived of
how do you get rid of the colonizer's marks on your breath
you're tainted
fooled. (you should be proper)
the wild ones, you see, are scorned
***
Label it a waste-land and lay waste to it.
I don't want pretty perfect plastic;
Nicely packaged decorated corpses.
Don't show me the perversion
Of a pristine green that sucks life and resources,
Like Jaundice and Jealousy.
The lush, damp, soft parks for couples to snuggle,
The sprinklers, the fertilizer, the mowers
All of it makes me nauseous.
Keep the greener side to yourself, thanks.
The grass I know is jade, like the mineral.
It is dry and long and wild like fire.
It whistles with the wind
It meanders with the snakes
It gossips with the rodents
It sings with the cicada.
It is alive and one.
Someone's wasteland is someone's treasure.
***
The Universe cuts a tight bargain
The land without people
The people without land
The goddess of fertility
The 4 Quls said to ward me off
Serpent choking the Sidrat
Decapitated demon growing
Hydra before Hercules
I plant myself in Lucifer’s bounty
And give my lifeless self to Satan
I cut merciless at the sole
I burn in defiance of Faith
I hide the snakes and scorpions
I give bay’ah to the Rot
I spy on Life in green disguise
I am the roach amidst nuclear waste
I am Chernobyl’s mushrooms
To kill me, you must utter Bismillah
You must lay waste to all life
You must draw plastic in my form
You must take me as your weapon
Plant me to murder my brethren
Water me in the Circle
Recite the wind’s prayer backwards
Unleash the Anthropocene.