I Cry

Dar paye an hameh khoon keh bar in khak chekid Nangeman bad in Jan! Sharmeman bad in Nan! Ma neshastim o tamasha kardim. After all those blood dripping on this soil Disgraced be this soul, shameful this bread! We just sat and watched those crimes. (From Without You On a Moonlit Night, Fereidoon Moshiri Poems, Translated by Mehdi Afshar, Namak Publishers, Tehran, 2006.) Those two women are still in solitary confinement. My heart is in solitary confinement. My conscience is strangling my heart which wants to leap toward Nowrooz with joy. I go through the motions. I pretend it is business as usual in my household. My tulips from last year just blossomed today. The wheat has stopped sprouting due to neglect. The silver is polished. I cry.