names. labels. numbers.

the journey from a name
to a number isn't swift,

it is slow
and laborious,

as the jews would tell you,

to go from

ezra
or anna
or oskar
or ella

to christ-killers
to money-mads
to rats
to untermenschen

to one in six million.



it could take several lies
on bright sunny days

as the palestinians would tell you,

to go from

omar
or layla
or yusuf
or aisha

to rapists
to war-lovers
to wasps
to lice

to one in sixty thousand.



before the name
becomes a number,
it must at first
become a label

that the ‘others’ among us
wear like a patch
on their sleeves
or hold up as a card
as they walk by

for all to know
who is who
and be at ease with erasure.



so

when we hear cockroaches
or ghuspetiyas
or infidels
or pet-eaters
instead of a name

we mustn’t look away,

but see it
for what it is,

a name
slowly becoming a number,

and then
tell the world.