A whorehouse

Next to each house, a mosque.

Every morning we wake up with the sound of Allahu Akbar,

Not the rooster crowing.

Still is God angry with us!

Not only ourselves;

fawns and

rabbits and

the pigeons,

go for Hajj every year in groups.

Still is God angry with us!

So long that we stand on the prayer rug,

we don’t lie down

half as much in our beds,

Still is God angry with us!

We take home one wheat flower, two wheat flowers

we give one to a sparrow

Still is God angry with us!

So far,

we haven’t broken the heart of

a horse

an ant or a bee

Still is God angry with us!

We don’t have the heart to be angry with a cat,

Or cast an angry look at a squirrel

or throw a pebble at a frog.

Still is God angry with us!

Search all the houses and you won’t find a bottle of wine

our refrigerator is full of Zamzam holy water.

still is God angry with us!

Check the whole city for a brothel

a pimp,

you won’t find it.

Still is God angry with us!

We love God as much

as mother,

as much as the homeland,

Still is God angry with us!

When we get Alzheimer’s,

we forget everything

except for God

Still is God angry with us!

The walls of our rooms,

are full of paintings;

The Book of Heaven and

full of image of God

Still is God angry with us!

What shall we do until God,

gets reconciled with us,

what shall we do!?

******

26 October 2023

Translated from Kurdish by Ahmad Eskandari