1000 Hats

 

Here he is

Seized for disrespecting the king

For not taking off his hat

Which he did again and again

At every step he took it off

But it appeared again a thousand times

It did not stop its hatty game

Until they took him to the tower

To cut his head

 

Here he is

Standing on top of the tower

The punishment is the reward

Seeing the world from the reverse side

From the palace side, the prosperous side

From the side of the elite, the well-offs, the kings,

The side of those who decide for them in slums
Who never walk in their shoes in margins

 

Here I am

Missing you my friend

--You who love with empty hands--

Remembering the story you once told me

On a bus in Tehran on a sunny summer day

A story that makes life and death glorious and gay

 

There you are

In your lima bean shell

Come out of your hiding and dare

To appear with your hat on

With your green dreams

With your courageous heart

 

The gems on your hat get bigger each time

Bigger than those on the crown of the king

You are the boy, you are the nation, you are me

You have a thousand hats, a thousand dreams

You have them, you have me

Here we are

Together we are WE!