Hayan Charara


Holy Fuck


Adam fucks Eve,
Noah fucks Naamah,
their son Ham walks in on Noah naked and drunk as fuck,
so Noah curses Ham’s son,
for centuries people get fucked for being descendants of Ham,
but the descendant of Noah’s other son Shem,
Abram, aka Abraham,
he receives a covenant not a curse,
Abraham fucks Sarah,
he fucks Hagar, too, a slave,
Abraham fucks Hagar over, and her son Ishmael,
and nearly fucking kills Isaac, the son of Sarah
whose uncle-in-law, Lot, fucks his wife
who gives birth to daughters,
two of whom fuck their father because he offered them up to be gang-raped
and/or to keep the family line alive,
so the Lord fucks the Sodomites,
Jacob fucks Leah and Rachel,
he also fucks Bilhah and Zilpah,
Jacob’s favorite son Joseph gets fucked by his brothers,
thrown in a pit, left to die under the sun,
but fucking A, the Midianites pull Joseph out,
but fuck a dog, the Midianites sell Joseph,
for twenty silver shekels, to the Ishmaelites, who bring him to Egypt,
but Joseph, O Joseph,
he becomes steward to Potiphar,
No fucking way,
Yes fucking way,
but Potiphar’s wife, O Potiphar’s wife,
she wants to fuck Joseph,
Joseph refuses,
so she fucks him over,
accuses him of trying to forcibly fuck her,
gets Joseph imprisoned,
but if I’m lying I’m dying, Joseph does well in prison,
interprets the fuck out of a dream,
keeps the Egyptians from getting fucked during famine,
so Pharoah frees him and makes him Vizier,
Wouldn’t you fucking believe it, Joseph’s brothers end up standing before him,
falsely accused, just like him,
they don’t recognize Joseph,
he recognizes them,
he pretends to fuck them over,
he calls them spies,
but all ends well,
the whole family settles in the land of Goshen,
the land of Goshen is in Egypt,
where Joseph is buried,
but Moses, O Moses,
he leaves Egypt,
he splits the sea,
or the sea parts for him,
Moses sees the fucking Lord in a burning bush,
obeying the Lord, Moses brings down the law,
after the molten calf, Moses lays the law down fierce,
but fuck if he sees the promised land,
Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
made holy by David,
David the shepherd boy, the king, the psalmist,
who the Christians say Jesus descended from,
who the Muslims call a prophet,
David, famous for knocking Goliath the fuck out,
David, infamous for ordering the murder of Uriah the Hittite
whose wife, Bathsheba,
David fucked to make his own.



Fucking Hell


Under a moon
on a Thursday
half past a month
of prayers and
day-long fasts, men,
women, children
too, stepped on board
a fishing boat.
If need be, they
told themselves, they
would swim to reach
the other side
where they could cast
aside the ways
they had been told
their whole lives they
must be. Hours, hours
went by and by,
huddled, knowing
the trip cost more
than they had paid.
God they begged, God
of mercy, please
bring relief, send
away the sharks,
please calm the sea.
The next morning,
of the hundred
fifty who tried,
three made it to
the other shore.



WTF


Woke up at 5 a.m., the cat pawing my forehead
Dropped the kids off at school, that single mom looked me sideways again
Bought milk, bought eggs, thumped a watermelon and didn’t buy it
Took the kids to a ballgame, Mets Dodgers, stepped away and Ohtani homered
Picked up after the dogs, scooped cat litter, set the bins out
Took the kids to a diner, $5.99 burger deal
Crossed the street to avoid a man without a shirt
Kids wanted to say hi, No, no, we’re not doing that
Underneath the hospital’s rubble, bodies, a mass grave, hands tied
Watched something stupid on TV, a show I’ve seen before
It’s easier that way, knowing what happens
Stayed up late, folded laundry, ate a bowl of cereal
Stayed up late, ran the dishwasher after midnight
Stayed up late, listened to far-off noises come to a stop



Mindfuck


I can’t tell you why
I stopped the car in rush hour
and under the bridge

completely broke down
over my mother, dead now
so long—I just did.


Also by Hayan Charara: "Under the Sun" and "Self-portrait after the Funeral"
Interview: a conversation about These Trees, This Flower, That Fruit


Hayan Charara’s most recent poetry book is These Trees, Those Leaves, This Flower, That Fruit (2022), a Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award finalist. He is also series founder and editor, with Fady Joudah, of the Etel Adnan Poetry Prize. His first novel, Hush, Little Children, is forthcoming in 2025. 

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