Jean-Paul: La ligne rouge? Have you crossed the red
line?
Bashar: Qu'est-ce que c'est?
Jean-Paul: Did your
regime use chemical weapons?
Bashar: Facebook is a loaded pistol. A powder keg.
We
are Syrians, not tweets. The story does
not
hold together. Let me tell you the truth:
Hell
is social media.
Jean-Paul: If
you were a philosopher, what would you do?
Bashar: I
would stop dyeing my hair, for one. It looks
horrible
on screen. I would strive to become
authentic.
How do you say: authentique?
I
would dance naked with French women.
Naked
as a worm. French women kiss like rebels,
n'est-ce pas? Oh, pardon, I mean like...terrorists.
I
would sing Non, je ne regrette rien. Wonderful
song.
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha...
Jean-Paul: Did
your regime use chemical weapons?
Bashar: When
the rich go to war, women and children
die
in the blink of an explosion in a tunnel. Red
line,
red blood, red tulip, jungle red (my wife's
lipstick),
Russian red, Rudolph red. You see,
Syria
is a secular regime, Jean-Paul. Stockpiles
have
no meaning if you are condemned to be free.
Jean-Paul: Would
you leave Syria if safe passage were offered?
Bashar: Ah, Jean-Paul,
the chips are not yet down. How do you
say:
Les jeux ne sont pas faits?
Jean-Paul: Oh,
you have it wrong, cher Bashar. Les jeux sont faits.
So
you read my play? What will happen if
France
decides
to strike? Or the U.S.?
Bashar: I am
no fortune teller, Jean-Paul. You can expect
the
unexpected anywhere, anytime. Ha, ha, ha, ha...
Your
peoples are no strangers to the accessories
of
war. Engagement is an act, not a dot.com. Kind
regards
from my wife. She wishes you would chill.
Recent poems by Judith Terzi have appeared or are forthcoming in: Malala: Poems for Malala Yousafzai (FutureCycle Press); Myrrh, Mothwing, Smoke: Erotic Poems (Tupelo Press); The Raintown Review; Times They Were A-Changing: Women Remember the 60s & 70s (She Writes Press); and elsewhere. Her fourth chapbook, Ghazal for a Chambermaid, is forthcoming from Finishing Line.