bismillah
the eyes stand before him
as he knives deep into the throat
of the bakra

an act of adoration

in another world he might
have licked the knife
never looking in the eyes of
those killed

he said he wasn’t hungry
hours before
the deed was complete

he meant that in a dream
the flesh he saw
between the skin / the bone
was hollow

fasting and ritualizing
away from godless women
he wondered
what sins were
his own?

tonight he dreamt
the eyes of the pure

the most sacred
the worshiped and the loved

goat,
the slit of their pupils,
to return

a somnambulate
in his dream fog
he would repeat
oh Allah, the living, the
Eternal forgive my sins

his stomach was full
bulging with remorse
as he slept once more