by Judith Terzi
Eugène: Why do you question the Holocaust?
Mahmoud: Rabbits are hiding under lounge chairs.
Hares under chairs. Pears in pairs. Pears
in pairs.
Eugène: You had doubts before. Do you still have
doubts, Mr. President?
Mahmoud: Snow has just fallen in Telluride. I mean
Teheran. Bears hiding under stares. Bare
facts. Four and four are more. Or less.
There's a parasol in Paraguay. Onions
in Ontario. A parka in Parchin. A home
in Homs.
Eugène: What should happen in Syria, Mr. President?
Mahmoud: Snowflakes on women's eyelashes are beautiful.
Eugène: You had doubts before. Do you still have
doubts, Mr. President?
Mahmoud: Snow has just fallen in Telluride. I mean
Teheran. Bears hiding under stares. Bare
facts. Four and four are more. Or less.
There's a parasol in Paraguay. Onions
in Ontario. A parka in Parchin. A home
in Homs.
Eugène: What should happen in Syria, Mr. President?
Mahmoud: Snowflakes on women's eyelashes are beautiful.
Eugène: Why is Faezeh Rafsanjani in prison?
Mahmoud: Desperate housewives are lonely. This is not art.
This is a pipe. This is a schoolboy's project.
Bar codes glued to a canvas. Yellowy newspapers.
A faded blue hydrangea growing in the distance.
The distance may be a close-up option. Two plus
two under Assad's shoe. I like flowers. Les fleurs?
Eugène: Have you read my play, Rhinoceros?
Mahmoud: Mrs. Martin's tomatoes are rotten. Mrs. Smith's
mouth is dry. Fermez la bouche. We have no bald
sopranos in Iran. We must educate against this.
My lips are licked. Bugs under rugs. Tornadoes
in Toledo. Gazelles in Gaza. Pachyderms left
to die in zoos. Peace be with you. Vive la France!
Judith Terzi is a poet living in Southern California where
she taught high school French for many years. Her poetry has received nominations
for Best of the Net and Web and awards and recognition from journals such as dotdotdash, Mad Hatters', and Newport Review. Poems are forthcoming in American Society: What Poets See
(FutureCycle Press), Poetry Project Erotic
Poem Anthology (Tupelo Press), and elsewhere. Sharing Tabouli was published by Finishing Line in 2011.
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
