Abby Re Jerusalem

If I could take a picture of the smell ofJerusalem
it would look like shit and chlorine.
And in the middle, one goat
chewing graves on the mountainside
with David glaring down.

This is the goat of desecration
eating what’s left, the first word,
last week’s paper.
It wishes to eat all Jerusalem.

It wishes to eat all Jerusalem -
to digest the wall and spit out the ramparts.
Its organs are dusted with Jerusalem stone,
its horns are the Mount of Olives and Zion,
and its coat is desert, desert, desert.

One goat, four stomachs.
One goat, many peoples
worshipping the heart
which beats like an onion,
excreting oils and harvesting tears.

Everyone falls to their knees
at the heart of a goat.
Everyone lies prostrate -
praying for another bite.