BARCODE
What if the you you call “you”
is more like the invention
of the barcode
that first appeared
on a pack of Wrigley’s
Juicy Fruit Gum
on June 26, 1974
and later became
ubiquitous the world over
as the premiere way
of conveniently carrying
basic product data? –
but that in no way held
or conveyed
what the gum chewing
experience would be:
joyous and free
at the child-like discovery
that bubbles as large
and larger than
the human head
could be blown
just by intently
breathing into
the space within.
No, this information
is nowhere encrypted
in the inky black lines
of that little identifier
that is scanned
in the check-out line
at the time of purchase.
What, do you think, we are
trying to “purchase”
with the barcodes
we call our identities?
Before you answer,
take a moment to scan
your own consciousness
to see if it is actually
bigger than you think it is.
Does this question leave you
with an expanded sense of self
loftier than any thinking
the head-mind can hold
or existentially befuddled
with a face vaguely pink and sticky
and somewhat sugarcoated?
