the rubaiyat of anthrax boy
SYED HASHMI
anthrax boy
is the sole owner of the shakiest hands in sunburnt suburban hell
treading sepia throes of prescription thrills empty pockets fail to fill
fleecing faith for false gods in a sky suffused in sinking minarets
shirking calls for Friday prayer scratching parched throat wells
anthrax boy
wagered mom’s milk money for half a pack of incendiary affection
tethered listless a marvelous marionette of suspended animation
laughing lunchtime recess hours comparing the knee scrape scars
of devotion lost amongst detergent-hungry grass stain subversion
anthrax boy
hums ghazals like mutinous punk rock anthems, chanting ameen
hunger hath no fury like his fiending need for nostalgic nicotine
prayer rug picnics, a jug of pills, a load of amphetamine—and you
spinning feverish tales of divinity on whirling dervish tambourines
anthrax boy
offers limp handshake to cloying highs; will they heal him or not?
do the holes in his shirt tear easier than those in his heart or not?
midnight drunk bar bathroom mirrors reflect an absent father’s face
so when the lights are off and the music dies, is he still real or not?
anthrax boy
always found words sickly saccharine enough with which to justify
slapping bandaids over bruised courage he seldom sought to sanctify
clumsy convictions writhing within breathlessly aspirated apology
but none sweet enough to kiss a lifetime’s worth of grief goodbye
anthrax boy
sang wind through tired sails stitched together with obstinate soliloquy
seamed into shattered dreams tolled by droning doleful symphony
charting rainy cul-de-sac gutter-stream canals, paper boats in hand
reciting mantras of recycled regret in the margins of his eulogy
anthrax boy
placed his heaven-hewn head in the lap of the lord and wept and wept
so his bloody jagged wire trap maw could find the will to finally repent
born to a cursed star of restless entropy sire to every capricious misery
and it has been an era since he dared to live the life he once dreamt
anthrax boy
feigns the motions of an unbelieving prayer hoping to reach God:
among our discord of unsettled sentiments, will you hear me God?
my complaints are no less than ever before or ever will be, God
witness me, still here, still haram as I am; can you see me, God?
Author's Statement: I submitted “anthrax boy” because it’s the closest I’ve come to writing about faith as it actually feels: imperfect, inherited, and insistent in the face of misery. The aim is to place holiness beside what we’re taught to hide—shame, addiction, poverty, or self-loathing, such that we may recognize the sacred’s proximity to the grotesque. The refrain “anthrax boy” is a ritual chant of self-indictment: rehearsed disbelief used to sanctify indulgence. In relation to the contest’s theme, the poem challenges the line between devotion and desperation, between faith practiced from piety and faith reached for in ruin. Is the sinner’s claim to mercy any less than the saint’s? To me, humility is the face of absolution, not purity (Syed Hashmi, Runner-Up).
Syed Hashmi developed an early fondness for poetry through evenings spent listening to ghazals by Mirza Ghalib with his Nani, an ardent lover of Urdu verse. His writing aims to blend Urdu poetic forms with English to celebrate a lineage of lament as liturgy and speak to the diasporic tension of being Desi, Muslim, and American. His work is drawn to the ways inherited devotion thrives most in damaged places, and to the subtle beauty of yearning to still be witnessed despite imperfect faith. When he isn’t writing, he builds a life around craft, community, and learning by doing.
Sabr Tooth Tiger Magazine, Issue no. 2: Mystics & Saints. 6x9 paperback, 196 pages.
Contributors:
2026 CLARION POETRY PRIZE
Kale Hensley (Grand Prize Winner), Syed Hashmi (Runner-Up), Sam Beal (Runner-Up)
POETRY
Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore, D.W. Baker, Kara Barlow, e.l. biddle, Cat Brogan, Linda Bryant-Davis, Joseph Byrd, Halliday Carpender, Sophie Cornwell, Stephan Crown-Weber, Tony DiCarlo, Jané Dowd, Bart Edelman, Elliot, Beatriz F. Fernandez, Gretchen Gale, Charisse Gendron, Z.H. Gill, Ewen Glass, Fernando Jerez, Victor Kamhazi, Justin Karcher, Kristin Lueke, Merlin June Mack, Pip McGough, Mark J. Mitchell, KG Newman, Lisa Perkins, Patrick T. Reardon, jw summerisle, Skye Tarshis, François Tristan L'Hermite, Hanna Webster, Payson Whitwell, Rachael A. Zubal-Ruggieri
FICTION
Jer Hayes, Allen Kesten, Jamie LeFort, Christina Rauh Fishburne & Charlie Rauh, Taylor Thornburg, Fiona Vigo Marshall
CREATIVE NONFICTION
JH Lucas, latrell "lala" novali, Gina Twardosz
VISUAL ART
Edena Alvarado, Julieta Beltrán Lazo, Aubrienne Bergeron, Arch Budzar, Ashley Czajkowski, Lattea Falco, Zander Fieschko, Sarah Goodermuth, Hannah Greteman, Catie Hernandez, Kaitlyn “Thu” Hettinger, Sophia Huang, Jowonder, Martina McAteer, Mina Mond, Brigid O'Neil, Diana Story, Sydney Strickland, Émile Sylvain, Angel Teeth
Issue no. 2 is expected to release in June 2026. Please note that copies are printed-to-order and can take up to one month to be delivered.