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!

   

Life

 

I watch you

Let you go

Past by me

Through me

Over me.

I survive

And revive

Live

From where I write.

I let you do

What you want

Like a child

Patiently

Take you

In prescribed doses

Accept

Your many faces

Analyze you

Like news

Taste you

Like an exotic fruit

Embrace you

Like someone

I have known

For years

Celebrate

Your anniversaries

As I age

Like wine

Red and wise

Smile and cry.

Without me

You are dead.

Without you

I shall end

In my endlessness.

 

Tree and Cliff

A tree

Half gold and half green

Grown by a cliff

Holding it together with its roots.

 

A cliff

That keeps falling off its own edge.

A heart breaks

And I notice I have one.

 

The sunlight

Is spread on the walls

Amsterdam craves for Hungarian coffee

And a walk in the park along the Hudson River.

 

I hug you like a tree

And with the third kiss I break free

From the unseen sorrow that swells inside.

For a disturbed sleep

 

You prescribe to kill a poet.

And you kill me

With Korean squid, Japanese beer

Mint gum and a magnum waltz

 

Which I shall save for another night.

That’s the purpose of

Having a heart

Silently.

Un Familiar

Iran

Rain and Cloud

This morning

I woke up on my empty side

Had a piece of bread and grief for brunch

Went out for a walk in the park.

 

Ignoring the trees telling me to give him a call

I dried my tears

Saw all the people walking by

With their umbrellas or dogs

 

I was not the only one.

Returning home

I took with me

Some rain and a piece of cloud.

گفتار خوب

 

گفتند بزرگان ز سعدی تا برشت             هر طور بگردد چرخ سرنوشت

 

نرم و آسان یا سخت و سفت                هر کس همان بردارد که کشت

 

ظاهرش زیبا کند‌, زبانش زشت             چه در گفتار باشد یا که دست نوشت

 

و نداند رسم تقاضای بخشش                به تارِ مویی نمی‌ارزد این کشش

 

لیک دنیا شود بهتر از بهشت               ز گفتار خوب مردم نیک سرشت !

In Search of You

I went to the cathedral

But you weren’t there

I went to the café

You weren’t there

I went to the campus

You weren’t there

I went to the store

You weren’t there

I went home

You weren’t there

You were everywhere.

حقیقت

سنگ حقیقت کوه را

کوه حقیقت زمین را

رود حقیقت دریا را

دریا حقیقت آسمان را

و تو حقیقت مرا

یک روز می‌فهمی

In Translation

The world comes in translation

I translate languages, colors

Cultures and gestures

Your phone calls, FB likes

And text messages

 

I even take my dictionary to bed

And look up your every move

Your kisses, your touch

Your red underwear

I read you in many contexts

You mean a lot

 

I reach out for your roots

Check all your denotations

Connotations, synonyms, antonyms

And all the words that rhyme with you

I find a definition

 

As close as possible to you

Yet it is no equivalent for you

I treat you like a proper noun

You don’t make sense in my context

Something always gets lost in translation

آهسته می‌گویم اما تو بشنو

بشنوصدای طپش ناخنهایم را

که بر این صفحه کلید کوچک می‌کوبند

حرفهایی‌ را که بسیار گفته‌ام

 

شنیدن خواستنی ‌ست

حتا اگر گوشی داشته باشی‌

برای فصل پایکوبی بر برگ‌های زرد

 

آب شو زیر پلک‌هایت

بشوی غبار کهنه‌ی گذشته را

از روی چراهای بی‌ پاسخت

 

دیدن آفریدنست

از این لحظه بتراش پیکرمان را تنیده در هم

ما به اندازهٔ امروز جاودانیم

 

بنواز دلت را برای دنیا

هک شو در ذهن تاریخ

و خود از یاد ببر نوازشی را که نبود

 

شادی فراموشیست

حتا اگر خاطره ای داشته باشی

از پرواز پرنده‌های مردنی