Tehran, Iran, through public surveillance footage
all begins slowly like anything else. night. two birds walk together through a cobblestone alley.
the rooster first, then the hen. if I were to invert this order, begin again. there is a pile of bags
a pile of white cloth sacks. the objects transform themselves as I write. two bicycle
tires over the sacks to restrain them. a waiting for the image to come from darkness.
then what happens on the same street everywhere. people and livestock move horizontally across
a path behind a structure where there is a gate. several people are livestock. one person is human.
chickens behind gates and people behind each dressed in white or they are white cattle. beyond,
a street sign a green pasture a mountain range.
Nilufar Karimi is an Iranian American poet and translator. Her works have appeared in publications such as World Literature Today,West Wind Review and Alchemy Journal of Translation.
