Alter Ego
O God You Merciful Dishonorer — some entity hidden deep within
my body is demanding its way to the surface
deeming us both Your viceroy tasked to cleanse this wretched earth
Hell is Your most necessary creation inside us it burns
flames cooling this rage as I kneel on stained glass mirrors
praying vengeance for my people but when I look
down upon my loved ones I only see myself hair wild face contorted in anger
Your servants have unleashed the monster inside me and she can not be
contained
scripture states Gog and Magog are caged behind iron walls
until the end of times when they will claw their way out
I unscrew my own manacles defiantly shed a second skin
how much I attempted to disguise
this toxic ruse my sins steeped within my own righteousness
neither my poems nor my protests could subdue the tyrant inside
I am only worthy because I am not worthy
God — O Avenger O Reckoner of judgment
the oppressors I have nightmares about live within
me and God — if you are truly Just and Compassionate
You will smite Your Hand
down and
rain holy destruction upon
every last one of us
Declaration | Manifesto
I testify bear witness
to no god but to heedlessness
God, who knows I am quietly a sinner, alas,
ready to burst from flames billowing
in submission through entire
bloodlines
preserve fragmented pages of holy scripture
commands: a parable foreseen
“for God”
is glorified as we rape
baptize and rectify sacred children absolved
bowing heads to lifeless bodies —
rejoice! not chosen like us
these testimonies
as necessary as sacrificial cleansing
sanctifying anthems what demons
awaken swallow us whole
during submission while declaring purity
what is left
after the deliverance when our slaughter is over?
Shirin Abedinirad, House in the Wind #2, 2017. Land art, Marrakesh, Morocco. Created in collaboration with Nikon and BMW Mini, the work imagines the desert as an open studio, where the sky becomes ceiling, horizons become walls, and wind, light, clouds, mirrors, and sand become collaborators in a meditation on nature, freedom, and belonging. Artwork courtesy of featured artist Shirin Abedinirad.
