PRAYER
o calloused cocoon.
beardless bird.
o distinct decimal.
o ethereal ether.
sharp silhouette.
grainy goblin.
o my opium!
tender thrush.
slick slack.
thick thud!
come crawl,
ur numerous
feet into me.
o mother of all
antlers. deer dream.
fractal ligature,
muscle me into
skin, into flesh,
into blood. i don’t
care for order. o sick
sphinx, o cavernous
carnivore, hunger
me into heat. o
helium, u noble
mfer—combust,
for once.
Javeria Hasnain is a poet, translator, and educator from Karachi and the author of SIN (Chestnut Review, 2024).