End-Game

By Leila Montour

mentally cuckoo
how to rectify seeing
disparity of

islam and muslims
"Join Islam! Community!"
until you come close

warts scabies and flies
purple marks on neighbor's face
she sleeps on the floor

"What!? Marry my son?"
"What!? You can't marry my girl!"
sister and brother

yes yes like north-south
one-live next to us, (ha)
but never be friends

and for the other:
friendly faces, but build a wall.
our community.

tone, home, and lifestyles
"You're not like me! I'm not you!"
plasma, retinas,

joints, tendons, eyes, nose,
and shovel-shaped incisors;
wrinkles, liver spots

incontinence, white depends,
saggy this and blubbery that,
and then, the silence

washed, perfumed, and wrapped
by those we once rejected
earth-hole, and waiting.

Decomposition.
organs, muscles, and neurons
final dusty bones

Arisen. brought forth!
"community" has become
individuals

miasma of stink
uncertainty in the air
of destination

Look around, o Muslims!
The end-game has just begun!
Brothers and Sisters,

Did you love one another?