"Islam" by Razeen Ahmed
The following is a section from the Epiphany’s Fall/Winter 2023, “Animalia” issue. To read more from the issue’s other excellent contributors, purchase your copy today in print or digital.
I am a God fearing man
depending on who asks
But between you and me
God does not exist
Or, I am God
and I am not a man
Depending on who asks
I like women!
A sentence that’s always true
Only God knows the
rest of it
I praise the most high
often, looking in the mirror
or facing mechanical
devices housing truth
Depending on who asks
I’m just on caffeine
And of course I eat halal
I think pigs are filthy
And I love my last name
depending on who asks
But if it’s the TSA,
I hate it as much as they do
And is it premarital sex
if I never get married?
And if sex is only between two sexes
then I shouldn’t be that worried
I haven’t had that much
depending on who asks
So, will I be going to Hell,
Where all the hot people go?
Depends on Who you ask.
Razeen Ahmed is a 23-year-old poet currently residing in Santa Barbara, California. Since their college years, they’ve had interest and engagement in revolutionary politics, participating in mutual aid and the dissemination of agitative propaganda. Knowing the personal is political, their work deals with the intersections of love, identity, and the broader superstructure of the modern day sociopolitical atmosphere. With ten tattoos that their mother has no idea about (sorry Mom if you’re reading this, I figured you can’t get mad if you find out here), an obsession for microcosmic subgenres of music, and a mind that’s never not thinking about love-making, anarchism, or their intersection, Raz hopes to share all their buzzing thoughts with the world through the language of poetry.
