Dwight Gray
The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place;
and the man shall release it in the wilderness. (Leviticus 16:22)
We weighted the goat down
with our burdens and set it free.
The animal only invisible to us;
somewhere a people are watching
a strange beast appear over
the horizon, its unnatural
burden, needing to be fed
and too stubborn to die.
In a later version we learn
the goat, having no use for symbolism,
shakes off the load and wanders
back to our homes, hungry.
The elders and the wealthy share bread together;
there’s some inhuman sound,
a bleating that grows closer.
The men simply talk louder,
convince themselves it doesn’t exist.
