nefer
enter drenched in perfume
that cleopatra supposedly wore
in the era before christ.
myrrh, amyris, and ginger in city hall.
tangerine and nutmeg, outside the gates
of our institution for democracy.
a half empty coffee cup, a green scarf, too bright
for a city dampened by pinstripe suits.
what would julius caesar have to say
about appeals to be seen as human
and the performance of testimonies
and disappearances and kidnappings
and a secret police?
resin, narcissisus, black pepper
legs crossed on a folded chair
the councilmembers shake their heads
the moral condemnation empties
into the chalice of microphones.
stoic, silent, microphones. amplifying
signals to an absent god.
caraway, coriander, sandalwood.
incense curls
there is no one to shake our fists at
the world's most powerful man is an empty chair.
at the temple of justice, we introduce our legal names
recite our acceptable lines
the buzzer goes off, the three minutes are up
cleopatra defers the remainder
to written testimony you can submit in 72 hours
(you can scan the link on the QR code)
we have said all we could say in the allotted time.
away the sails, drenched in rose water.
away the security check points, identification cards,
our emptied pockets.
we are mute even as we declare to speak for the voiceless.
as we sit on our plastic folding chairs,
the voices flood the streets, piling up outside city hall’s doors
like a battering ram.
"we will not be silenced" falls flat in a room tiled with carpet.
coffee oil, cardamom, amber.
after christ, fragrance disappears
into twenty nine degrees.
winter bites at the bare skin
coats and civilization don’t cover.
file for permission first, before you speak.
indifferent skies, civic duty crossed off the list.
