Count the sheep to go to sleep

count the sheep to go to sleep is a poem that alludes to war zones. I have taken my own experience of the 2016 coup in Ankara and reflected on it. As the f16 jets were flying over our heads during the night, we were unable to sleep and somebody said count the planes, as they were sheep, to go to sleep. and thats what we did.

the repetitive form recalls the passing of the sheep, over and over again. slowly, as the person looses conscience, the words start shifting. what comes after is a game of elementary rhymes that are metaphors of war, alluding to the absence of money, food, and shelter.