another weekend of incident briefings

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it was a weekend
in a diverse neighbourhood
a predictable Saturday evening
celebrating
rest, togetherness, gaiety

a typical nondescript night
shaken, by falling shreds of glass
confetti of innards
spectacular explosions
heard across the river
and within wombs
not fireworks, not fireworks
declaration
of dread
by
faceless nameless shameless
shoppers at the mall
in eager meaninglessness
desolate coupon redemption

a prosaic weekend
the same squinted misery
of usefulness
unexpectedly awakened
to an embrace of
anti¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬—something
armored with guns
and evil constellations
had come shopping
too

Shaitan is belligerent
another city by the lake
ready to sail
barely eliminated
the chance of being
added to statistics
of this weekend’s
incident debriefs
meanwhile,
at
the headquarters of hell
infernos were ablaze
luminous and predatory
it was a weekend

disappointed
duly warned
tug the trashcan to the curb
mute my brain
turn on the burglar alarm
and pack hardboiled eggs
for lunch
another week before
another weekend

in between there will be more
epilogues

When Kashiana is not writing, she lives to embody her TEDx talk theme of Work as Worship into her every day. Her chapbook Crushed Anthills by Yavanika Press is a journey through 10 cities. Her newest full-length collection, Woman by the Door was released in Feb 2022 with Apprentice House Press. Read other articles by Kashiana, or visit Kashiana's website.