Fake Identity

POETRY FORMAT, 14 Jul 2014

Mahdi Jalili – TRANSCEND Media Service

Mine was the fakest identity of all
With its ink dried up
And its paper rotten from the dawn of humanity

I was beheaded in Africa
My corpse was set on fire in Vietnam
And I was left in pieces in Palestine
I arose from rape by the Serbs
Who sought revenge against the Ottomans
In Muslim women
I was the Jewish virgin whose 15th birthday
Turned to ashes in Auschwitz
I was the outburst of that teenager on horseback
Running away from his American Indian legacy
I was the Armenian starving
On the way from Poland to Iran
Mine was the fakest identity of all
Whenoverwhelmed at Iraq-Syria border
I became a Takfiri Muslim
And when I self-immolated in Tibet
As an offering to Buddha’s peace
I was the sad eternity of mankind
Searching forever amid fear and chaos
For love
For a peaceful home…
Alas
Mine was the fakest identity of all
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Mahdi Jalili holds a Ph.D. in mass media and communication studies and is a journalist.

Translated by Nasim Banaei, MA in mass media and communication studies and a member of T:AP TRANSCEND: Art & Peace Network.

 

This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 14 Jul 2014.

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