7/27/2009

Last Seen Wearing A Green Ribbon

The mother looked in
The sleeping child breathing slowly
Face framed by sheets in the dark
Softly she said “Wake up Sohrab”
The day’s hope and excitement ahead
The shower ran
Bread was toasted,
The sound of the slowly boiling kettle
The green ribbon tied
Heralding the start of a momentous day

~ ~ ~

As the crowd flowed and moved through,

Everyone a drop in a sea of green

Taking tiny steps ahead

Shoulder to shoulder

The telegraphic words and looks

Transmitting meanings and messages

Through the deafening roar

A nod of reassurance

A tiny smile

~ ~ ~

The crowd grew greater and wider

And in an errant second they were pulled apart,

Separated by the sea,

Tiny and black clad among the trees,

She watched him happily engulfed, foam on the wave,

She lost sight of him

The crowd took him

And she stood there thinking

“This wholesome crowd will protect him”

“He will be safe”

~ ~ ~

She waited

And waited

And didn’t hear the key turning in the lock

And couldn’t hear his familiar footsteps down the hall

And melancholy swiftly turned to despair,

She became a soldier searching

The young man who was last seen wearing a green ribbon

She looked

High and low

Low and low

She asked “Have you seen my boy?”

“He was wearing a green ribbon”

Days

Weeks

A month

~ ~ ~

The news came

Stark and short

And the crowds gathered again

Hailing the end

Carrying gladiola

Wearing black ribbons

~ ~ ~

The mother looked in

The sleeping boy forgetting to breath

The shroud framing his man’s shape

Softly she said “Wake up Sohrab”

Her life’s dread and grief ahead

As the crowd prayed

The smell of camphor and rosewater

Mixed with the sound of sobs and muffled tears

Marked the start of a barren life

The life of the mother without her son.

8 comments:

Daisy said...

Nazy jon, it seems that you're really back this time :) so good to see you writing again.

Nazy said...

Dear Kaveh:

I'm sooooo sorry. I am so new at this comments moderation business on my blogs. I went to publish your very kind comment and instead I clicked on "Reject!" I thank you very much for your encouraging words. Whereabouts are you Kaveh?

Here I copy and paste your kind comment from the email announcement of it. Thank you again and please forgive me. Nazy

"کاوه has left a new comment on your post "Last Seen Wearing A Green Ribbon":

Even a "heavy heart" has some advantages, the first being pushing the artist to create... "

Nazy said...

Sweet Daisy:

Yes, I'm back sweetheart. And I have missed you very much. I hope all is well with you my friend.

Kisses,

Nazy

Unknown said...

Dear Nazi,

Thanks for backing up my comment! In my 19th century lifestyle, these things happen in a daily basis whenever the medium is anything other than paper! I'm in the last month of my student life in Stirling, a small city empty of Iranians, in Scotland and should travel to unknown soon, who knows maybe finally somewhere back to writing...

One of the reasons I very much like your blog and writing style is that it reminds me the possibility of writing/telling stories based on simple daily events or feelings, and the fact that lots of story raw materials are always available for a creative mind (for the same reason I always liked Chekhov). Oh, this feeling of reading English stories dabbed with a fresh Persian scent is also incredibly pleasant!

Please pardon me for going overboard in writing a comment!

Regards, کاوه

کاوه said...

Oh, Sorry that for the second time I wrote your name with i at the end instead of Y. No need to publish this comment, please just accept my apologies.

Regards,
Kaveh

Anonymous said...

Nazyjoon,

Heartbreaking. You've been MIA for some time from things. Are you ok?

Nancy

nasim said...

Beautiful! I am happy you are back.

nasim said...

beautiful! I am happy you are back..