After Killing Your Brother

AFTER KILLING YOUR BROTHER

The crux of the matter is what to do 

with the body now fallen so undeservedly 

at your hands. Prudence says dismember 

it, scrubbing beneath your finger-

nails to rinse away any condemning 

evidence of having been at the scene

of the slaughter, then bury the ax. 

Or maybe you play it cool, act 

like it’s nothing new to hold a carcass

in your fingertips, like really this 

is something you do on a weekly basis, 

nonchalant as a Sunday stroll. Of course, 

you wouldn’t be here in the first place 

if you were one to listen to prudence, 

so disregard this. You’re holding the flesh

and blood of another. This is no time for prudence. 

Pray for forgiveness and devour it, 

wiping first one cheek, then the other.