my joss paper

STOKES ASSUMPTION

like the way
paper
burns
different papers
burn differently
passport
paper
is unique
how it burns
slowly
without curling
retaining
resilience

can appreciate
how a passport
could
stoke
assumptions
the geopolitics
of humans

for a
business
traveler
it's loaded
with meaning
already had several
loaded
with
stamps

fundamental tensions
exist between my
mission
responsibility
how narrowly
this document
defines
me
encapsulating rungs
a social hierarchy
badge of membership
or mark of
unacceptability

all this meaning
would be
lost
in my galaxy
where physiology
ID 
has now been
necessary
for several centuries

there
it'd just make
a great museum
piece