The Condemned Body

By Rêveur Tounsi

The Struggle Within 

Lonely and lost,

Torn between two worlds: 

One that I endure, 

The other that calls me, 

And toward which I run. 

Speak with your voice raised. 

Be a man — a real one. 

Do not tremble. 

Do not look back. 

And remember: 

if they find out, 

it will be your end. 

And every night, alone, 

you will take off your mask. 

You will count the cracks in the ceiling 

as you count the lost years. 

Your real name will remain trapped 

behind your teeth, 

alive, 

but forbidden, 

hidden in a dark room 

or deep in a forest, 

in the middle of the night. 

Tormented to the point of exhaustion, 

in fleeting pleasure, 

in passing passions. 

With time, you think you will die 

within your own whirlwind. 

And then— 

a star arrives. 

With her light, 

she sparks a revolution, 

an inner war 

against your Struggle Within. 

She plants herself in your heart 

like a beautiful flower 

growing 

in the depths of an arid desert. 

Deep inside you, 

a voice echoes, 

strong: 

Down with their codes. 

Down with their laws. 

Down with their stares. 

Go on — set yourself free. 

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Article 230* 

Three years, three years, 

that was my sentence. 

'Three years in prison,' said the clerk, 

sitting on his high chair, 

looking at me. 

Three years… 

I did not steal. I did not kill. 

I committed but one crime: 

to love you, 

to kiss you. 

Because to them, 

our bodies are two tectonic rocks. 

When they collide, 

they make the heavens tremble. 

Three years, 

each of us locked away in our own cell, 

dreaming of our beautiful, fleeting moments, 

dreaming of a country, of a land 

where lovers are not condemned. 

Three years— 

it’s long, 

but not long enough for them. 

'Kill them!' cried

my cell companions.

And now my blood flows. 

The pavement will run red. 

But they will never separate our souls. 

*Article 230 of the Tunisian Penal Code is a law inherited from the French colonial era (inspired by Article 230 of the French Penal Code of 1913) that criminalizes same-sex relations in Tunisia. 

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Rêveur Tounsi is a Tunisian poet and blogger exploring personal and collective experience. Since 2017 in France, his work reflects LGBTQ identity, exile, freedom, and belonging, blending intimate emotion with social and political awareness rooted in Tunisia. Follow Rêveur on Instagram: @reveur_tounsi 

Please note: 'Article 230' was first published in Anarkiss Zine Issue #11 'Bodies Without Permission'

Photographer Credit: @mahe.verse