Where Do You Come From? Poem by Atef Ayadi

In most parties
I go to,
Or in some public
Gathering
Around coffee shop
Table;
The most
Frequently asked
Urgent,
Predictable
And routine
Questions
I have been subject to
And
I have tried
Unsuccessfully
To digest
During these
Last five years
Is
“what is your name? ”
“How do you pronounce it? ”
“where do you come from? ”

See,
They come
In a bundle,
One pack,
The same sequence,
Same wavelength,
And
The same algorithm.

I do not know where people
Learned
The stuff?
Was it in first grade?
Second?
Fifth grade?
Maybe
To deal with the country’s
Urgent
Need
For diversity.