Muezzin

from my ear to your ear
from whom given the right
to dominate the space of sound
can i set off firecrackers
five times a day every day
without losing my head to a lop?
or does it only din in my ears
because God has enemies:
puffed up orators in public squares
pontificating profits
for an unholy grail?
railing for centuries
warring the “infidels”

we are muezzins here us roar
in tenor too loud to ignore
brother denying brother
No Good God Would Cotton
endless bloody brotherhood
or first born sacrifices
“No passing Go, directly,
off to prison you must,
dear Abraham, dear Sarah!”

There stands two-headed minotaur
one head Bush the other Osama
one clawed foot grasping America
one clawed foot grasping Arab land
rivers running bloody red

We are in this hell-on-earth together
having done onto us
as we have done onto others
Will the real spiritual leader stand up
and remind all those “religious” ites
“Vengeance is Mine,” sayeth
the Lord. (Not yours!
Not mine! Not theirs!)

67 days and counting…