And the Lord said, “What have you done?
The voice of your brother’s blood 
is crying to me from the ground.”
                                   —Genesis 4:10 

 

Why           didn’t God  

accept Cain’s           sacrifice           

I ask            my paw 

wisps of white hair           antlers  

branching           from the crown 

of his head           Because             

sure as            shit  Paw said 

God ain’t           no vegetarian.           

 

 

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Benjamín Naka-Hasebe Kingsley belongs to the Onondaga Nation. He is the author of Not Your Mama’s Melting Pot (Nebraska), Colonize Me (Saturnalia), and Demos (Milkweed) and recipient of fellowships from Provincetown, Kundiman, and the Gilman School, among others.