Lost Karbala
(for Ladan Hatami)

I’d forgotten about the flies,
the muck fires, mosquitoes, the relentless
reptiles squirming, swimming in the laden
humidity. Spurts of gaseous flame lick
the roadside—Shaytan’s tongue.

Spanish moss hangs low over the
tombstone, drawn down by afternoon
heat. The gnats distract your mourning
parents. Fire ants form a mass of tears
at their feet—Mary and Joseph.

Disease scorched your vibrant body
not unlike the field fires that combust,
consume, and die in a span of days.
Fumes linger reminding us of her
unjust rule—Mother Nature’s pyre.

You sacrificed for the very ones
that drained you dry and now
the vultures gather. Relentless.
Was the air this fetid at the
Martyrdom—lost Karbala?

Haleh Hatami

Karbala is a Shiite pilgrimage site in present-day Iraq where Hussein, grandson of Mohammad and son of Ali and Fatima, was martyred.