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?