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By Elahe Zivardar
Attention folk, an ancient curse has occurred
Snake shoulder is back to life to run the world
Disasterly, man is lost in countless poles
Northern, southern, eastern, western, homeless souls
Highest fences running to the land of Mars
The border force is extracting bills of bars
Manipulation’s provided for brain soup
Peoples have been divided by the saints’ troop
What is gained? Blown up earth, endless bloody wars
Men have felled for Viagra, wealth, weapons, cars
God is bought, the sun has fallen, love is burned
Such is life, the dead forgotten, truth is spurned
The good lord has been dreaming well, blanket is nice and fluffy
Borders are bleeding, declared the national geography
Note: Zahhak the Snake Shoulder is an evil figure in Persian mythology. He was a nice man until Ahriman, the Evil Spirit, persuaded him to kill his father who was the ruler. When Zahhak killed him and took his place, Ahriman once again appeared to him as a cook and made delicious meals for him. Zahhak asked Ahriman what he wanted as a reward for the wonderful meals he had prepared. Ahriman asked Zahhak to let him kiss his shoulders. After Ahriman kissed Zahhak’s shoulders, he disappeared. But suddenly two fierce black snakes grew from Zahhak’s shoulders. Zahhak was terrified and didn’t know what to do with the snakes. Ahriman appeared to him again, this time as a physician. He told Zahhak that the only way to control the snakes was to feed them human brains every day, otherwise the snakes would eat Zahhak himself. So Zahhak started killing young men and feeding their brains to the evil snakes.
Source: This poem was previously published in Esposito, F. et al (2021) Corpi Reclusi in Attesa di Espulsione: La Detenzione Amministrativa in Europa al Tempo della Sindemia (Edizioni SEB27, 2022). Reproduced with permission. View Italian edition →
It appears as the opening poem of the English edition, Detention and Deportation in Europe (Bristol University Press, 2026). View English edition →