☀ Today's Poem: "A Barcode Scanner" (excerpt) Zêdan Xelef

A Barcode Scanner

Tent block, then muddy street, then tent block

In the beginning there was the number and the number
      became a price tag stuck to us
The number made our selection easier from afar, no need
      to point
Then the earth became a radio with an eternal battery,
      no broadcast station, and no stop to the disruption

Muddy street, then tent block, then muddy street

We raise ourselves on the hatred of death and the love of the
      dead
We raise ourselves on the love of life and the hatred of the
      living!
The crazy nobody is singing while teenagers chase him,
      trying to strip off his pajamas

Tent block, then muddy street, then tent block

The IDP is a zebra in a fenced-in wilderness
Browsing the statuses of a closed Facebook group

Muddy street, then tent block, then muddy street

May your eyes cloud over and the peacock's corpse become
      your eyepatch, deviant pirate
The prayer of hungry mothers, boiling boredom for their
      children, who snore through midday in every tent

Tent block, then muddy street, then tent block

Who introduces the IDPs to sunrise?
Who convinces them that the sun serves any purpose but
      heat?

Muddy street, then tent block, then muddy street

The wind in your tent is just an ascetic Sufi mocking you with
      each whirl

Tent block, then muddy street, then tent block

With his ration card held tight in his extended hand
The IDP walks along the streets searching
Like a mine detector

Muddy street, then tent block, then muddy street

A tomato vendor: If only there were a tomato festival, so that
      people could learn to associate the color red with
      something else

Tent block, muddy street, then tent block

An onion vendor: Long live life!
An eggplant vendor: Ha ha ha!

Tent block, then muddy street, then tent block

Life in the camp is encrypted despair, but the IDPs are not
      hackers

Muddy street, then tent block, then muddy street
Tent block, then muddy street, then tent block
Muddy street, then tent block, then muddy street

ERROR
ERROR
ERROR

Dear consumer—

Could not identify the producer of war!

Life from Afar

With two emoji hearts we loved each other
With two pictures we proved our empty presence
With two steps backwards we got closer
With two keyboards we thumbed a bed and poked the dark
With two calls we befriended silence and learned to groan
With two lips that kissed nothing but their pair on the screen
      we locked in a virtual embrace
With two orgasms separated only by a sperm's suicide we
      broke like a wave
With two fucks from afar we bore a doll
With two mutual lies the three of us are now a happy family
And every day you are the army that kills me
I'm the last sparrow on the world's tree