Public Survey

By NILUFAR KARIMI

Public surveillance footage of Tehran, Iran, depicting street stones

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.

Public surveillance footage of Tehran depicting a green car

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.

Public Survey

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