Teleportation Problem

Icarus Koh

if (iholdmyhandtothesun) {

red light shines right through these bones;

}

else if (iblink) {

these shutters close;

damp flesh to dust;

drink of me

through atmosphere;

}

else {

tell me sorry;

tell me nothing;

tell me goodbye;

tell me to breathe when morning comes;

}

The structure of the poem uses programming syntax while the content is inspired by The Teletransportation Paradox, a thought experiment about a teleporter that records a person's molecular structure and deconstructs them down to atoms then reconstructs them at the target location. Does this kill the person and make a copy, or is it the same person?

Icarus Koh (they/she) was born and raised in Singapore and now lives in the Bay Area with their cat, Momo. She has been asking the question “what does it mean to be human?” since she obtained sentience, and a conclusive answer has yet to be found. Their work has been published in Quarter After Eight and McSweeney’s Quarterly. You can find her at @ginsengsmoothie.