Poems
Black Banners
black banners at sunrise black banners at sunset
black on black are our days and nights
black cars and black-clad men with dark machine guns
riding on the back of black tanks and pickups
firing aimlessly into the darkened sky as if in a bleak wedding
driving on roads lined with rotting corpses
singing a capella like a good choir
stroking cats and taking selfies
black phantoms emerging from the dead of the night
marking houses with exes
fond of cutting hands, arms, and feet
black crows at dusk black crows at dawn
black on black are our evenings and mornings
the mounds of piled bodies rise in Mosul and Raqqa
higher than the tower of Babel
playing soccer in the barren fields
laughing and shouting
like kids on a school trip
kicking by foot severed heads
disheveled hair eyes gone mouths twitching
blood spurting fresh from the kill
the devils are gone now
but we still see black banners in our sleep
black crows when we're awake
in the evening in the morning
and the time in between
For Sale
Like brand new. Hardly been used.
No visible signs of wear and tear.
In perfect condition inside and out.
Can cook, clean, and wash.
Very pleasing to the eye.
Soft to the touch.
Sometimes it shudders,
but it always works like magic.
More useful than an iPhone,
warmer than an electric blanket in winter.
Shaves off years from your age.
Requires little maintenance.
If performance is erratic,
give it a good kick.
This should do the trick.
Don't miss this unique opportunity.
Serious inquiries only. Sale is final.
No return, no refund.
A mere thirteen years old.
Product of Sinjar.
The Doctor
He was a burly man with a thick moustache,
married a tiny woman and together they had
one, two, three boys ( mashallah).
They lived in a small house with a teeny backyard
where he kept all the animal he had saved.
He looked like a butcher from a distance,
but he was a veterinarian. Everyone knew
he treated animals and humans alike.
People knew his name, and he gave animals their names.
He had never heard of evolution, creationism, or vegetarianism,
but he avoided meat and was fond of feeding stray cats,
even impure dogs. If someone berated him,
he would shrug his broad shoulders
and replied they were God's creatures as well.
When he once caught his son torturing a small bird,
he slapped him so hard that his large hand
was imprinted on the boy's cheek for a whole week.
He prayed five times a day and fasted in Ramadan,
but went from house to house rescuing lambs
prepared for slaughter before Adha Eid.
He would never knock on the door of the sitting room
when his wife was entertaining her female friends ―
he barged in, telling the visitors
they didn't need to wear the veil in his presence
because he was a doctor. Stunned,
they couldn't tell if he meant insult or praise.
When the Islamists swept into the village
at Eid, he was the first one they dragged
to the market place to be slaughtered.