THE SEVEN VALLEYS OF LOVE

THE BILINGUAL ANTHOLOGY OF WOMEN POETS FROM THE MIDDLE AGES PERSIA TO

THE PRESENT TIME IRAN

TRANSLATIONS AND EDITING BY SHEEMA KALBASI

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.............................................................................................ivINTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................vii

IRabe'eh Quzdari................................................................................................................3Mahasti Ganjavi.................................................................................................................5Padeshah Khatoon.............................................................................................................5Zaifie...................................................................................................................................6Mehrunisa Begum..............................................................................................................7Zandokht............................................................................................................................8Ziaolsaltaneh Shah Beygom..............................................................................................9Jahan Malek Khatoon.....................................................................................................10Mastoreh Kordestani.......................................................................................................11Tahereh Ghoratolein.......................................................................................................12Parvin Shamsolhajieh......................................................................................................14Noorolhoda Mangeneh....................................................................................................15Fakhr Ozma Arghoon.....................................................................................................16Batoul Adib Soltani..........................................................................................................17Shahnaz A'lami................................................................................................................18Parvin Jazayeri................................................................................................................19Afsaneh Salami.................................................................................................................21Soraya Bavaripour...........................................................................................................23

IIPouran Farrokhzad.........................................................................................................26Parvaneh Forouhar.........................................................................................................28Leila Kasra.......................................................................................................................29Mina Dastgheib................................................................................................................32Roghieh Kaviani...............................................................................................................33Mehri Rahmani................................................................................................................34Mahin Khadivi.................................................................................................................35Banafsheh Hejazi.............................................................................................................36Farideh Hassanzadeh......................................................................................................37Nasrin Ranjbar Irani.......................................................................................................38Mahshid Naghashpour....................................................................................................40Fereshteh Sari..................................................................................................................41Mahasti Shahrokhi..........................................................................................................42Sylvana Salmanpour........................................................................................................43Fereshteh Yamini Sharif.................................................................................................44Khatereh Hejazi...............................................................................................................45Azita Ghahraman............................................................................................................47Reira Abbasi.....................................................................................................................48

Monireh Parvaresh..........................................................................................................49Neda Aabkari...................................................................................................................50Mehrnoush Ghorbanali...................................................................................................52Soudabeh Babagap..........................................................................................................53Elham Gheytanchi...........................................................................................................54Pegah Ahmadi..................................................................................................................55Geranaz Mousavi.............................................................................................................56Rosa Jamali......................................................................................................................57Farzaneh Seyed Saeedi....................................................................................................60Nazanin Bahadori............................................................................................................61Nasrin Behjati..................................................................................................................62Mahnaz Hamidi...............................................................................................................63Jaleh Chegeni...................................................................................................................64

Biographies........................................................................................................................65

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In memory of my mother Batoul Nayer,And for my daughter Margaret Rose.

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My gratitude goes to the students, professors, editors, translators, and artists worldwide who continue to chose and present my poems as well as editorial works and translations in their theses, classrooms, literary journals, anthologies, translations, and paintings.

A special acknowledgment and warm thank you is due to Craig Boulton, Roger Humes, and Elham Amini for their insight, and important suggestions. I am grateful to Pouran Farrokhzad for giving me the permission to select and translate from her women anthology of Zanan-e Hamishe. Deepest thanks to Jahanshah Javid for giving voice to the Iranians in Diaspora. I would also like to thank Mahasti Shahrokhi and Shahrnush Parsipur for bringing Iranian contemporary literature to the world stage. To Jimmy Santiago Baca, Payam Akhavan, Alireza Zarrin [Of course, many thanks for this. How about Ali Zarrin or Dr. Ali Zarrin—in English that is who I am?] , Alan Corkish, Laurel Johnson, Geranaz Moussavi, Dr. Peyman Vahabzadeh, Yahia Lababidi, Ron Hudson, Collin Kelley, Nahid Rachlin, D. H. Melhem, Daniela Gioseffi, Dr. Ahmad Karimi Hakkak, Sholeh Wolpé, Dr. Joel B. Peckham, Sepideh Jodeyri, Daniel Y. Harris, Wayne Amtzis, Birgitta Jonsdottir, Roger Aplon, Partow Nooriala, Sheida Mohamadi, Donald Berger, Kushyar Parsi, Daniele Pantano, Pedram Moallemian, Soheil Askarzadeh, Shabnam Kavoosian, Roshanak Bigonah, Parham Nik-Eteghad, Peyvand Khorsandi, Dr. Ramin Ahmadi, and Dr. Mario Petrucci, I say thank you.  I would like to recognize Barbara Agazzi, Claudia Morales, Corinne Coutaz, Alessio Zanelli, Mandana Zaboli, Frieda Hovsepian, Katayoon Zandvakili, Elham Gheytanchi, Negar Assari Samimi, Sayeh Saidi Sirjani, Mana Aghaee, Dr. Mahnaz Badihian, Nikahang Kowsar, Nazafarin Hedayati, Maryam Azarion, and Sepideh Banihashemi for their continuous care and constructive friendship. To my emotional supporter and a great human being Mandana Zandian I am deeply thankful for her love. To my friend and inspiration Naanaam (Hossein Fazeli) who has graciously granted his love and given me a new insight on poetry I like to extend my thanks. To Dr. Ali Alizadeh for his devotion to bring Iran's contemporary literature into an English speaking audience I say thank you. To my father, brothers, my husband and daughter, endless thanks, for their patience and genuine love. I am indebted to female Iranian poets of the past, and present, and their intellectual mind and artistic soul who made this collection possible.

I owe a special thank you to Lucinda Clark for believing in this project.

iv

To Humanity

v

O woman you are beautiful Like a flower in full bloom I call you a flower, and I withhold The flower is not as beautiful

Simin Bahbahani

vi

INTRODUCTION

The title of this anthology of Iranian women’s poetry, collected and translated into English by Iranian-born American-based poet and woman of letters Sheema Kalbasi, refers to the narrative of the medieval Persian allegory Mantegh ot-Tayr (Conference of the Birds) written by Farid od-Din Attar.

Attar, one of the seminal figures of early Persian literature, was also one of the most committed advocates of the doctrines of the incipient Islamic mystical movement, Sufism. Attar’s literary concepts, such as the motif of ‘the Seven Valleys of Love’, had a profound effect on not only future Persian-speaking poets (most notably Rumi and Hafez); but also introduced, or at least for the first time articulated unambiguously, a number of tenets of one of the medieval world’s most significant and enduring theosophical schools.

Among these notions was Eshgh (literally ‘Love’), which, in a Greco-Western episteme, seems closer to agape than either philia or eros. This ideal was most vividly illustrated in Attar’s abovementioned narrative verse, in which a group of thirty birds embarks on a journey to meet the majestic Si-morgh – a mythological giant bird symbolizing wisdom. Instead of finding the Si-morgh as such, however, the birds experience something ostensibly more poignant: they undergo the Sufi concept of Fana (Annihilation). At the end of the tale, as a consequence of enduring the arduous journey and traversing the Seven Valleys of Love, the birds have somewhat unwittingly effaced their selves (or egos); and have, as a result, unified to constitute an assembly of thirty birds, that is – in Persian – si (thirty) morgh (bird/s). The ordinary birds have, in other words, become the legendary Si-morgh in and of themselves.

It is of great interest and pertinence that Ms Kalbasi has named her anthology after the above mystical idiom. Many of the poets presented in this volume have experienced journeys similar to those of the parabolic birds; and it can be said that these authors, by the virtue of being women in an intransigently and institutionally patriarchal society such as Iran, have too had their egos threatened (although by no means ‘annihilated’), and that they too have succeeded in not only surviving the travails and brutalities of sexism but have also found a Sufi-esque kind of love, solidarity and inspiration that has resulted in passionate and provocative poetry.

This is not to say, however, that this collection presents a ‘journey of self-

discovery’ in a positivist, New Ageist sense; and neither can all the authors collected

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in The Seven Valleys of Love be classified as classic survivors. The mid 19th century poet Tahereh Ghoratolein, for example, was brutally murdered by the then Shah of Iran because she repudiated the hejab veil in public and proselytized for the banned Baha’i faith. The poem of hers included in this book, a close-formed ode or ghazal, can be seen as a poem of intense, almost agonistic, yearning for an unattainable beloved. It is by no means a generic ‘feel good’ love poem; but a profoundly devotional and theological exploration of melancholy or, as Keats may have it, ‘the wakeful anguish of the soul.’

The lyrics of the above martyred feminist sit alongside those of other articulate and committed Iranian women poets in Ms Kalbasi’s unique anthology. One of the other great strengths of Ms Kalbasi’s work is her decision to present lesser-known poets in place of such well-known figures as Forugh Farrokhzad, Simin Behbahani and Parvin Etesami. This editorial decision is visionary and courageous. By bringing new and/or marginalized poets to an international readership, Ms Kalbasi has broken one of the most stifling taboos of poetry anthologies – that of presenting only the famous/classic ‘public’ poets – and has, as a result, opened a new front in giving voice to female artists usually denied exposure by unapologetically sexist and/or elitist culture industries in Iran as well as the Anglophone world.

Another important and immensely valuable dimension of this anthology can be found not only in the shared identity of the authors presented – their being Iranian and/or Persian-speaking women – but in the poems themselves, and in the range and diversity of periods, voices, discourses and poetic genres included in the book. The Seven Valleys of Love comprises poems from medieval Arabic/Turkish ruled Persia; as well as poems from the independent unitary Iranian kingdoms of the Safavid and Ghajar monarchs; as well as works by modernists and post-modernists of the Pahlavi Dynasty and the Islamic Republic. Included are also poems written in Persian by members of the considerable Iranian diaspora communities. Therefore Ms Kalbasi’s selection cuts across not only chronological divides but also aesthetical and ideological chasms. Some of the poems here are versified, others are free-formed/prosaic; some are romantic/erotic in a broad sense, others speak to the specific socio-political contexts in which they were articulated.

My final evaluation of this exciting new anthology concerns what – at least for today’s mainstream Western readers – may constitute the book’s most noticeable characteristic: its representation of work by poets from Iran, that terminally demonized/dehumanized ‘axis of Evil’ nation that has seemingly been at war with the West since the Battle of Marathon between ancient Greeks and Persians in 490 BCE. It is my belief that by exposing the journey of Iran’s women poets through ‘the Seven Valleys of Love’ Ms Kalbasi has depicted and emphasized the humanity and dignity of one of world’s most misunderstood peoples, and has made a significant contribution to facilitating a cross-cultural dialogue in place of a nefarious ‘Clash of Civilizations.’

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Dr. Ali Alizadeh, PhD Deakin

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I CLASSICS

The mishap and misfortune can’t eradicate me

1

What blood drop is this inspiring?

Parvin Etesami

2

Rabe'eh Quzdari

STRING OF LOVE

My endeavor remains in vain,His love enslaves me yet againWhose bravery, O but the one in need,An ample love, the shore unseen,Deem and caress the insolence.When it is love you ache for to gainImmersed in darkness and opt for the good,Drink the poison and envision the swain. [big difference between sugar and swain, but you force this because of rhyme]

3

عشق زنجير

بند به آوردم اندر باز او عشق

سودمند نامد کوششبسيار

ناپديد کرانه دريايی عشق

مستمند ای شنا کردن توان کی

بری پايان تا که خواهی عاشقی

ناپسند هر با ساخت ببايد پس

خوب انگاريد و ديد بايد زشت

قند پنداريد و خورد بايد زهر

قزداری رابعه

4

Mahasti Ganjavi

Wake! And arrive, O darling,I have the Tavern [hojreh means room and it also means store and not tavern]prepared within.A cup of wine and a feastAnd for you I have clad in blissThis many I have craftedFrom my heart and my dream.

5

و ام برخيز پرداخته حجره که بيا

ام تو بهر ز و انداخته خوش ای پرده

و با کبابی به درساز من شرابـــی

هر و دو کاين ام ز زديده ساختــه دل

گنجوی مهستی

6

Padeshah Khatoon

I am the woman who dwells in grace,Covered and veiled but audacious.O, you who behest me to abide by his rulesDo not veil me! Enthrone me! Thus lives the Eve and the Empress.To zephyrs travel, those who are pretentiousFairness and goodness are my resting place.Not every able one is a seaman or has the face,Not everyone disguised is as pure or chaste.

7

كاریست نكو من كار همه كه زنم آن من

داریست كله بسی من مقنعه بزیر

گوید سرم از بخشم ای مقنعه كه بهر

دیناریست هزار تاج مقنعه جای چه

است من گاه تکیه که عصمت پرده درون

دشواریست به گذر را صبا مسافران

کدبانو است مقنعه گز دو به زنی هر نه

سرداریست سزای کالهی به سری هر نه

خاتون پادشاه

8

Zaifie

O, you who are a man of despair,Fragile, feeble you are and not an heir.You command me about, howl and do not care,But devoid of my aid you cannot appear or even inhale air.

نیست انگیزی مهر به را تو مرد ای

9

نیست چیزی را تو و ضعیفی و پیر هم

زدن به نهیبم دهی می همه این با

نیست برخیزی که ترا آن قوت خود

ضعیفی

Mehrunisa Begum

10

The glories of the world are yours and nothing is mine;To unchain a twine from the heart is not defined.The cash and credit, I have it all and the wine;What is remains, what shall be desires a sign.

تو خانه چه  در شاید،  آن نیست  مرا

نیست  رمیـده  دِل  ز  بنـدی بگشایـد،

11

چیـز  گویی منـال  دارم  همـه و مـال از

نیست باید، می چه آن هست، همه آری

مهرالنسا

Zandokht

Daughter of a king I am.  Sword

12

And readied on guard I do standagainst the flesh and flood.Daughter of the king I am. I offer to Her fields my blood, and my life, sacrificed for my land. Daughter of the king I am.

زندم شاه زاده و شورشی دختری

برباید من همت کسی که نتواند

13

را جان و سر دال کن وطن خاک فدای

گردیدن کشته راه این در زندگیست که

زندخت

Ziaolsaltaneh Shah Beygom

O treasure and light, listen to me

14

and my admonition:  No palaces to build, no prizes to gain, triumphant is the world but it will not remain. Wrest! The shield from its assailant! Wrest!The flowers are poisonous, the suitors insane. Judicious be, judicious. I am daughter of the king; I wish, and he fulfillsWith pearls, diamonds, a choice of garments, But I do not pine for the world,I do not live for the vile.O treasure in sight, listen to me: Do not consign your soul to the night,Enshrine your heart, enshrine.

خردمند فاضل عاقل ای

چند نصیحتی زمن تو بشنو

شادی و عیش جای نه دنیاست

نامرادی مکان دنیاست

15

کرد خو عجوز این به که هرکس

کرد شستشو عیش از را دل

زنهار عجوز این از زنهار

نگهدار او فریب ز را خود

شوی او مثل ز صد دو ات دیده

روی از برقع نفکنده هرگز

شاهم دخت چه اگر بنده من

کالهم مه به صد ز فخر از

میسر او خواهم که چیز هر

زیور و زر و لباس و فرش از

دل ام نبسته یکی هیچ بر

مشگل بسیست دل کندن چون

نگهدار دل نیز تو خواجه ای

نسپار هیچ به جهان ز را دل

بیگم شاه السلطنه ضیا

Jahan Malek Khatoon

O beloved! Your image does not forsake my heart!Your love is sealed, not one breath can flee my heart,Not even one day can glide by meWhen a glance at your curls does not make my heart fall.

16

نرود ما دل ز خیالت نقش دلبرا

نرود شیدا دل زین نفسی مهرت مهر

غلط به روزی زده سودا من بر نگذرد

نرود سودا به تو زلف سر از دلم که

17

خاتون ملک جهان

Mastoreh Kordestani

Sins nurtured and formed our futurity And we departed without leaving a Subtle imprint behind

18

When we turn into soil, and brick, and Afterlife devalues our earthly existence What pride will remain for us? So many poisonous plants we have planted So many forbidden roads we have crossed We are the true worshipers at the mosque Why fear the Zahid who doesn’t preach the right At resurrection what will the Friend ask? We are from Him, if we have sailed The ship through the sea or into the mud We wrote everything but of Him When from Him are the name and the heart

نهشتیم خیر عمل خود از پس و رفتیم

بسرشتیم عقبی توشه گنه آب با

نازیم چه به خاکی عالم بدین امروز

خشتیم همه و خاک همه بینی که فرداست

کردیم مرحله این در که مناهی کار بس

19

کشتیم مزرعه این در که معاصی خار بس

نگوید محراب و مسجد از زاهدم گو

کنشتیم و کلیسا پیران مابنده

پرسد چه دوست ما بد و نیک ز حشر در

زشتیم چو اوییم از و اوییم از نیکیم

دل و من مستوره که لله المنه

نوشتیم دیار همه از بساط یار جز

کردستانی مستوره

Tahereh Ghoratolein

Must I forever forsake your sight? With fevers of your love For you I want to live or die. I, bereaved of your love, I am.

20

You who are the noble delight, You who have broken the secrets, You who have abandoned fear. I, remaining secluded, I am.

You who are the milk and the might, You who are the tree and the height, You who are the sun and the light. I, a speck, a spot, I am.

You who are the palm and the date. You who are the master of my fate. An illustrious beloved, You are the reviving shade. I, an insolent mate, I am.

You who are the Mecca And the seeker dressed in white, You who are the mosque And the shrine, you who are The pleasure and the right. I, the deflated lover, I am.

“Come to me,” the Beloved said, “Free from the blindness and pride.” I, manifestation of the One, I am.

When you love Tahereh, she becomes A woman and shines, drunk by your wine, awaiting you, the sublime divine. I, the Eve offering the apple, I am.

منم بال شيفته صنم، اي عشقت ره در

منم آشنـا غمـت بـا کـنـي؟ مـغـايـرت چــند

اي شکسته هم به زلف اي، بسته روي به پرده

اي، رسته خلق همه همگان  از منم  از جدا

21

تويي ثمر تويي، شاخه تويي، شکر تويي، شير

منم هبا منم، ذره تويي، قمر تويي، شمس

رطب تويي، تويي  نخل لب نوش لعبت تويي، 

منم حــيــا بي بنده تويي، ادب بــا خـواجــه

تويي حرم تويي، دير تويي، صنم تويي، کعبه

منم بينوا عــاشــق تويي، محــتــرم دلـــبــر

بــــيــا ما سوي به گفت دلبرا شوخ شاهد          

ز منم  رسته کبريا مــظــهــر ريــا، از و کــبــر

تو لقاي مي مست تو، پاي خــاک   طــاهــره

منم خطا مــعـــتــرف تــو، عطــاي مـنــتـظـر

قرةالعين طــاهــره

Parvin Shamsolhajieh

To entwine with a lover in the Spring is captivating, To be entranced by the tulips and wild roses is captivating. Not every color suits every mouth But on her lips all colors are captivating In the Rose garden where from night until dawn Like a nightingale the murmur of Parvin is captivating

22

 

است خوش فروردین فصل و یار وصل

است خوش نسرین و الله و جوی طرف

لبی هر در خطی هر نباشد خوش

است خوش مشکین خط آن لب آن گرد

سحر تا شب وقت گلستان در

است خوش پروین ناله بلبل همچو

پروین

23

Noorolhoda Mangeneh

The poor endure The hungry abide the coerced Your dithering sight and injured feet Running on the lawn are calloused Without a guide in the wasteland near Hamoon Lake.  When the dark night surges, the journey is arduous Exposed and standing surrounded by perils.  Accepting injustice is atrocious And to tolerate vainness 

24

Is as poisonous as the snake bite or the surliness of the backhanded word

است سخت بيمار و ناخوش برهنه

است سخت بار سنگين زير گرسنه

مجروح پای با لرزونت نگاه

است سخت خار و تيغ روی دويدن

هامون و دشت در رهنما بدون

است سخت تار شبان بهنگام

زنبور فوج میان عریان تن

25

است سخت ناهموار درد قبول

رفتن یاوه و زور بار بزیر

است سخت مار نیش و سوز بسان

نورالهدی

Fakhr Ozma Arghoon

Neither the beauty nor the face makes a woman. For the faults are not rose petals or Jasmine soft in a woman. Neither a silk skirt nor a crepe georgette suit makes a woman. Neither the bright shoes nor a wrinkled shirt makes a woman. It is the knowledge and truth in her indeed that makes her the center of attention.

26

O Light Wind, ask the Sheikh for me why am I again and again the weak in this land? Why am I the haven for the strong man when I am ineffectual and just a woman?

O woman, try and arise for that is the best of fashion. Knowledge is precious in Fakhr’s vision, try and earn it like an artisan.

باشد شکن پر زلف همین نه زن جمال

باشد دهن وغنچه گل چو عارش نه

ژرژت کرپ جامه نه و اطلس ژوپ نه

باشد پیرهن چین نه و برقی کفش نه

اوست عفت و کمال حقیقت به زن جمال

باشد انجمن شمع جا همه زنی چنین

شيخ از بپرس را نكته اين من قول ز صبا

27

باشد من نام ملك اين در ضعيفه چرا

  من ی بعهده رو چه از منم ضعيفه اگر

  باشد پيلتن مرد پرورش وظيفه

  بپوش جامه علم ز تن بر و زن ای بكوش

باشد   بتن ات جامه چنين كه آنزمان خوش

  است شيرين بسكه ز دانش فخر، چشم به

  باش كوهكن همچو طلبش در هميشه

ارغون عظمی فخر

Batoul Adib Soltani

His image calms my heart where none else can enthrallBut only if these desires of one deprived may ascend and enthrall.Captivated I am by my beloved's black eyesWhoever falls in love lives until the end enthralled.Months and years I have longed for my matured yet fresh love story

28

So, O Hunter, do not harm this deer, whose graceful eyes you enthrall.In my beloved's presence there is nothing to dispute,I ache to see his divine image and be enthralled.My life has passed by but from my beloved's loveThere is a fire in my heart that does not die but enthralls.

نیست خیال دل در تو روی خیال از غیر

نیست وصال امید خیال در چند هر

خویش نگار سیاه چشم اسیر گشتم

نیست مالل را او شد عشق اسیر کس هر

غزال هر صید نکند بگو را صیاد

نیست غزال غزالم مست چشم ز خوشتر

غمش در شهره شدم هاست سال و ها مه

29

نیست سال و ماه از تر قدیم داستان این

کنم فغان و آه رخت دوری ز دایم

نیست قال و قیل جز تو عشق آستان در

( دوست ( عشق ز ولیکن رفت صبور عمر

نیست زوال را آن که است آتشی سینه در

سلطانی ادیب بتول

Shahnaz A'lami

The years sketched a fading image on the water and departedWithin the race as they fled through the town to be soon departed.That Palace of a Thousand Pillars did not have one pillarClinging to the dream of bubbles on water that were departed from the heart that was poured by the sun and the wine.What would happen if my heart had also departed?

30

For the spirit does not become accustomed and will never adaptBut to pure gain or a unique love that has not yet departed.I said to my heart: do not melt, alas be inflamedBy the truth or the answer from the one who has not departed.

بود آب بر نقشی ی قصه رفت که عمری

بود شتاب شهر ز گذار ی افسانه

نداشت ستون یک ستون هزار صد کاخ آن

بود آب بر حبابی و بود خیال و خواب

نبود مرا دل اگر گذشت می چه من بر

بود آفتاب می ز پر که دلی جام

خو گرفت خواهد نه و گرفت خو نه هرگز

بود ناب سودای که مهر شرار بر جز

31

سر به پا سوخت مرا مسوز، دل به گفتم

بود؟ جواب این خدا به قسم ترا !آخر

اعالمی شهناز

Parvin Jazayeri

For what reason does the night not end?For what reason does the dawn not arrive to this end?We are quiet as are the dead, so do tell us are we like the departed? For what reason does our voice not reach anyone’s ears from start to end?We speak only of those who have passed away, telling their tale.For what reason does the song of hope not reach us at this end?

32

The ruins of our heart are now a home to the owl of despairSo for what reason do we not hear the good news of the rebuilding of this end?

رسد؟ نمی انتها به ما سیاه شب چرا

رسد؟ نمی سرا این به سحر از نشانی چرا

بگو اگر ایم نمرده مردگان، و ما سکوت

رسد؟ نمی ما صدای دگر، کس گوش به چرا

لبی بر نمانده سخن ها، رفته حدیث جز به

رسد؟ نمی ها لحظه امید ترنم چرا

حسرتی جغد مکان ببین ها سینه خرابه

رسد نمی بنا براین ساختن نوید چرا

33

جان به ها پیله تنیده هراس صد و یاس غبار

رسد؟ نمی نوا چرا دیگری، درای از هم

گذر یک به هم کنار ثمر، بی صفرهای چو

" رسد؟ " نمی سا فسانه ما، کنار یک ز چرا

کند نمی رو بهار زده یخ های باغ به

رسد؟ نمی ما نسل به دیگری فصل ...!حضور

جزایری پروین

Afsaneh Salami

The judgments are crowdedWithout a trial the Sun is executed, Witness the pallid moonAs the hyenas feast next to its image soonAnd the brightest star is chained in the hands of floating shadows and the nightThe sky breaks at gray by the sightOn the shoulders of the windowA morning mirror is shatteredthrobbing from the death which is lifeIn the eyes of the false crowdHearing to a true voice is deniedI cannot believe in such a stubborn reality

34

But at your feet every road is bricked into a wallHoping for your arrival is the old gardenerBut he becomes the prisoner of self conceitAh! You are the image of Spring, the green splendorIn your absence the fall repeats.

شود می تار ها خاطره فضای روشن

شود می دار بر محاکمه بی خورشید

رنگ پریده ماه پیکر چگونه بنگر

شود می کفتار ی شبانه ی سفره در

گرد پرسه اندیش شب های سایه دست در

شود می گرفتار ستاره ترین روشن

آسمان اندود غم نگاه خاکستری

شود می آوار پنجره های شانه بر

است زندگی که مرگی ی عاشقانه سوگ در

35

شود می عزادار شکسته ای آیینه

مسخ پلشت مشتی حقیقت بی چشم در

شود می انکار تو صدای ترین عریان

چشم خیره و سخت چنین که کنم نمی باور

شود می دیوار تو پای پیش جاده هر

پیر باغبان امدنت آرزوی در

شود می پندار ی همیشه زندانی

! سبز شکوه مجسم، بهار ای خوب ای

شود می تکرار تو حضور بی .پاییز

سالمی افسانه

Soraya Bavaripour

I will be fair and beautiful, if given the chanceI will be fresh and blossom in full, if given the chanceThe old from the past, I will leave asideI will be new and all, when given the chanceThe acceptance in his springing eyes I will be fruitful, if given the chanceI am estranged from me and in the darkI will be the Soraya, once given the chance

36

بگذارند اگر شوم زیبا و روشن

بگذارند اگر شوم شکوفا و سبز

کناری به نهم را دیروز ی کهنه

بگذارند اگر شوم فردا ی تازه

نگاهش است اجابت سبز ی جاده

37

بگذارند اگر شوم خدایا جمله

تاریک و غریبم نیستم خودم مثل

بگذارند اگر شوم ثریا مثل

پور باوری ثریا

II CONTOMPRARY

38

Out of the deep of dimnessOut of the deep of darknessAnd out of the deep of night I speak

Forugh Farrokhzad

39

Pouran Farrokhzad

TURN

Always closed,You are standingNot a step,Not even one step, you put forwardWhen the night falls

40

With its dark nightmaresTo draw you into the groundWhere you are drowned verticallyEyes closedConfoundedDeceivedWanderingYou find yourselfOn the other side of the wallThat tall magic boxWhere,The sound of a clock’s tick-tockDrops down on your earsMoment after momentSecond after second:I am sorry!The time is up,

UP!

نوبت

ای ایستاده بسته همیشه

گام یک و

ای نگذاشته پیش گام یک حتی

رسد می راه از شب

41

کبودش های کابوس تمامی با

بکشاند را تو تا

زمینی قلب به

عمودی آن در روی می فرو که

ناگشوده چشم و

، گیج

، گول

سرگردان

یابی می را خود

دیوار سوی آن

آمیز اسرار ی بسته بلند آن

که جا آن

دیواری ساعت تاک تیک صدای

هایت گوش در بارد می فرو

دم به دم

ثانیه به : ثانیه

! متاسفم

شد تمام دیگر ، نوبت

. . . تمام

اد فرخز پوران

42

Parvaneh Forouhar

I am depressed I am depressed, ah I am depressed from this relentless silence From this hopeless patience From this quiet cry, this ditch I am depressed, ah When will we arrive to the Sun!

43

When will we be arriving at the garden?!…

گرفته دلم

آه گرفته، دلم من

امان بی سکوت این از دلم من

امید بی صبور این از

مغاک این از

صدا بی فغان این از

44

آه گرفته، دلم من

رسیم می آفتاب به !کی

رسیم؟ می باغ به ...!کی

فروهر پروانه

Leila Kasra

KNOW ME

In me there is a womanTender, gentleDrinking hot coffeeInside a dark mountain cabinWith blushed cheeks-By the rosy flames of a fireplaceGazing at the windows

45

Of the snow’s mystical calmAnd thinking of the snowAnd a dying love affairThere is a woman in me harmless as the sparrow who fears neither the chains nor the snakes and doesn’t fear the burn or the explosion and flies to the farthest away Dark, enraged forestAnd with palms, soft and searchingPuts on a light on the trees with feet in chainIn me there is a woman soft as the spring, embracing the kindness of rainWho is the drunken start, the rejoiced dawnIn me there is a woman who is not sad-Like the never ending nights- farFrom wrinkled lips, those cold mouths-Opening and closing as the fish--And I Love You, that floodsAnd far and awayRejoices from a child’s heartbeatIn meThere is a womanWho doesn’t lean against the disbeliefAnd is a stranger to the angered rattlesIn me there is a woman pureWho can lull to sleep the Satan

With her charmsStay with meMe, who doesn’t twist inside the spring,Me, who doesn’t socialize with the spring,Me, who has lost to the raidMe, whose cruel hands have the love,Disappear faster than a snowballBuild with meWith me who has lived with a stranger in meBuild with meEntwine in meAnd knowThat gentle woman in me.

46

بشناس مرا

است زنی من در

آرام آرام

نوشد می داغ ی قهوه که

کوه دامن تاریک ی کلبه درون

افروخته ها گونه با و

دیواری - بخاری یک گلرنگ آتش هرم -از

47

است برف عارفانه سکوت بر خیره

پنجره روی

اندیشد می برف وبه

تدریجی ی عاشقانه زوال این ...به

است زنی من در

مار و اسارت از ترسد نمی که پاک گنجشکی مثل

حریق از ترسد نمی که

انفجار از

تاریک جنگل خشم اوج به کشد می پر

کاوشگر روشن های دست با و

آمیزد می چراغ

زنجیر در پای درختان های شاخه بر

است زنی من در

بهارگونه که

است باران لطف پذیرای

است زنی من در

است آغاز مستی و طلوع شوق که

است زنی من در

نیست غمگین که

48

- صبح بی خسته شبهای -مثل

...دور

چرکین و سنگی های دهان از

- وار ماهی شدن بسته و باز -با

- ها دارم دوستت سیالب -و

دور ...و

عاشق کوکی قلب تپش از

است زنی من در

تردید ی کهنه ستونهای که

گاهشنیست تکیه

است زنی من در

اهورایی

را شیطان کرده خواب که

خویش ی زنانه هستی ...در

بساز من با

پیچم نمی بهار در که من با

جوشم نمی بهار با که من با

ام داده پاییز غارت به جان که من با

عشق که من با

دستانم قساوت در

است برفی ی گلوله یک از ناپایدارتر

49

بساز من با

زیستم بیگانه ها سال که من با

است من در غریبانه که زنی آن با

بساز من با

بپیچ من در

آرام زن آن من در و

را رام شیطان و

...!بشناس

کسری لیال

Mina Dastgheib

DISSOLVING

To the orange garden Not much was left, days gone by Night in the sheath of a tribute And the heart brimming by the tune. You are absent And I look at the wind At the earth, the leaves and the wall At the face The Cage,Clouds,The Window And frame

50

The bitter taste of water And I trust myself to the stream.

نبود راهی

نارنج های باغ تا

دیروز نبود، راهی

خاطره غالف در شب

پر سرود از .قلب

رفتی

نگرم می باد در

دیوار و برگ و خاک در

چهره در

51

قفس

ابر

پنجره

قاب در

سپرم می آب دست به را خود

آب ترین .تلخ

دستغیب مینا

Roghieh Kaviani

THE DREAMLAND

Your passing through me is the passing of the lanternThe candelabrum The same presence and passingThrough the lightsI seize you I shield youThis time the passage is sealed!

52

خیالستان

من از کنی می عبور من از دوباره

چراغ همان

چلچراغ همان

حضور همان دوباره

نور همه آن الی البه از

گرفتمت

بار این ام کرده ات پنهان

عبور

53

عبور ...!بی

کاویانی رقیه

Mehri Rahmani

WITH YOU

Your tender revoltContained by the illicit applePounds in redAnd your eyes’ shattered diamondA woman in seclusionRevolves into a starWith youOn the surface of waterI am thirstyPlace the skies in your eyesBlaze out the starSo that I can see youThe sea is peaceful

54

Silent…

تو با

تو مهربان عصیان

خود ی ممنوعه سیب در

تپد می سرخ

هایت چشم ی شکسته الماس بر و

خود تنهایی در زنی

شود می ستاره

تو با

هم آب متن در

ام تشنه

55

کن خاموش را ستاره

کنم نگاهت خواهم می

بریز آسمان هایت چشم در

است ساکت دریا

...!هنوز

رحمانی مهری

Mahin Khadivi

THE STRANGER IN ME

I live with youButI don’t love youWe work alongside But I don’t love youI walk next to youButI don’t love youYour shoulder is next to mineI arrive or flee At the feel of your dark enveloping hands, I hate mineMine resemble the bruised blueI don’t cherish me!

56

بیگانه

کنم می زندگی تو با

اما

ندارم دوستت

کنم می کار تو با

ندارم دوستت اما

روم می راه تو با

اما

ندارم دوستت

ساید می ام شانه به ات شانه

57

گریزم می و آیم می

سیاهت دستان

گیرند می را دستانم

بیزارم دستانم از

است شده کبود انگار انگشتانم سر

ندارم دوست دیگر را ...!خودم

خدیوی مهین

Banafsheh Hejazi

A ROAD

I am passionateWhen I pause at every sentenceThe heartHas two optionsThe SunSeven signsAnd cherriesIn white.Take a stepForward!Your short noteHas an affair with the roadsBut to be aliveIn your handsWas not regretful.

58

The love festivalsWill exhibit modern silence.

جاده

ام مهربان من

وقتی

کنم می مکث جمله هر سر

دارد روح امکان دو م .

خورشید

رنگ هفت

ها گیالس و

اند .سفید

قدم یک

بگذار !جلو

ات کوتاه یادداشت

59

ها جاده دارد با رابطه .

شدن نو اما

تو های دست در

نبود .تیره

ای جشنواره های عشق

کنند می کشف جدید .سکوتی

حجازی بنفشه

Farideh Hassanzadeh

MatrimonyWe pass one anotherI walk to the kitchenYou depart for the officeI walk to the mountain of plates and clothes And you are off to the forest of desks or the files

We pass one anotherNow and againWithout a glanceAnd sometimesPerchanceAt night our bodyFind time to socializeDespite the silenceDespite the exhaustion

I knowThe earth tilts against your shoulders

60

And the instant you are notThe sun and its heart will fade away.

زناشویه

گذریم می یکدیگر کنار از

آشپزخانه سوی به من

اداره سوی به تو

ها رخت و ها ظرف کوه سوی به من

سوی به تو

ها پرونده و میزها باغ

گذریم می یکدیگر کنار از

گاهی

یکدیگر به نگاهی نیم بی

ها تنها شب نیمه شاید ما های تن ،

یکدیگر با گفتن سخن برای یابند فرصتی

همه این با

61

سکوت رغم به

خستگی رغم به

ندارم شک

زمین ی کره

دارد تکیه تو های شانه بر

نباشی تو که ای لحظه و

افتد می کار از خورشید ...قلب

زاده حسن فریده

Nasrin Ranjbar Irani

THE STONE I BECOMEI do not grow or nurtureThe stone I becomeThe stoneAnd mask the spring’s mouthI do not cry or pain othersThe Rock I becomeThe RockThat intrudes the peaceful pondNeither I do laugh nor do I want others toThe stone I becomeThe stone and I shatter the mirrorsTo the poetryI vow, to the joy, to dewThat I will be a stone againAn undeniable slash across the browBut before these allI want to beThe glassThe flameThe mirrorAh! A crystal ball

62

and the spring rainOnce and Only OnceTo be in love, in love, in loveIn this life timeOnce and Only Once!

شوم می سنگ

رویانم می رویم نه می نه

شوم می سنگ

پوشانم می را ها چشمه دهان و سنگ

گریم می نه

گریانم می نه

شوم می سنگ

ها برکه سکوت و سنگ

آشوبم می

خندم می خندانم نه می نه

شوم می سنگ سنگ ،

63

کنم می افشان را ها آینه یکپارچگی و

شعر به سوگند

شبنم به و شور به

دیگر شوم می سنگ که

را جهان وپیشانی

شکافم می

اما آن، از پیش

را یکبار همین تنها

خواهم می

شعله و باشم شیشه

آه و باشم آیینه

تندر و باشم بلور تنگ

خواهم می را یکبار همین تنها

باشم عاشق عاشق، !عاشق،

را یکبار همین تنها

ام آمده دنیا به که را یکبار !همین

ایرانی رنجبر نسرین

64

Mahshid Naghashpour

THE SECRET

Locks on the boltSecrets behind the doorsAnd the moist Jasmine perfumePanting at the nightThe jar of thirst in a summer afternoonThis musky willow shade and IThese birds and I, those do not sing!

65

راز

کلون بر آویخته ها قفل

پستوها به ورازها

یاس نمناک عطر و

کشد می نفس که

شب پشت به

عطش ی کوزه و تابستان ظهر

بید مشکین ی سایه این و من

پرندگان این و من

خوانند نمی ...!که

نقاشپور مهشید

66

Fereshteh Sari

THOSE DAYS

Those daysPoetryWas my roomAnd wherever I felt unsafeI gravitated into its eternal sanctuary.

These daysThere aren’t any rooms That can harbor me against the crowd and behind every windowinside and outside every rooma two-faced clown sneers.

67

روزها آن

روزها آن

شعر

بود من اتاق

شدم می ایمن نا کجا هر

درون به کشاندم می اش جاذبه

همیشه از شد می پناهی و

روزها این

جهان در اتاقی هیچ

چیزی از شود نمی پناهی

ای پنجره هر از و

دوریه دلقکی صورتک

زند می پوزخند

68

اتاق برون و درون از

ساری فرشته

Sylvana Salmanpour

A RUSH

With soft wordsI draw a childhood dreamOn the prime plate.I write in peaceSo that the silky dream of the notebookWill not tear apart.But the blooming words statethe storm in brave.

69

هجوم

نرم های واژه با

را کودکی رویای

کهولت ی لوحه بر

کنم می .ترسیم

نویسم می آرام

شاید تا

من دفتر لطیف خواب

زهم .نگسلد

عصیانگر و سرکش های گلواژه اما

توفانند شهامت پر نسل ...از

پور سلمان سیلوانا

70

Fereshteh Yamini Sharif

APPLE

This is meA Saintly sinLies commence with meApple in my palmSeduction in the gazeFrom my locks serpent twirlsOn the man’s frame Beloved of fireOn the body of the cross

In your chain - the circle of the worshipers of the MoonIt is I who falls on the groundStill in need to evolvein the mother’s womb

Escaped the stonesPurified from the sinsAt times when motherly psalms Drizzle from my breast…

71

سیب

منم این

مکرمه گناه

شود می آغاز من با دروغ

دستم در سیب

چشمم در وسوسه

پیچد می مار گیسوانم از

مرد اندام .بر

آتش ی معشوقه

چلیپا اندام .بر

مادر رحم از نارسیده که منم

افتم می برخاک

پرستان ماه شما ی حلقه .در

72

رجم از رسته

پاک معاصی از

که گاهی

مادری اوراد

بارد می ام سینه ...از

شریف یمینی فرشته

Khatereh Hejazi

VALENTINE DAY

Today I discovered my eyesAnd realized the trees dancedAt night, and at dawn sweet berries rainedNothing escaped my eyes, and before cooling down the instant would swallow meToday the sky felt close and when I invited the rain, it rained and I supposed my every wish would come true

O awake I became!Someone walked next to meKissing my shoulders, was gleamingSinging, and was clad in joyAnd I wasn’t worried from this presence.

My heart was aware.I had my eyes at a gatheringAnd everyone learned of my arrival From yours, and when the rapture closed down but the ValentineI didn’t see the gaze and the lightAnd the poet flew away.Stay with me!

73

I want a lifetime of romantic verses.

دل روز

کردم کشف را هایم چشم امروز

رقصید می درخت دیدم

بارید می شیرین های توت روزم شب، چادر بر

ماند نمی دور چشمم از چیزی

خورد می و کرد نمی فوت مرا لحظه و

و ببارد خواستم که بود خودمانی چنان آسمان امروز

بارید

شد می من خواهش به دیگری چیز هر کنم می وفکر

خودم از ترسیدم ...!چقدر

آمد می راه من با امروز ی کوچه در کسی

زد می بوسه را هایم شانه

بود نورانی

خواند می ترانه

داشت تن بر شادی لباس و

74

ترسیدم نمی او از هیچ من و

بود تازه دلم

بودم برده مهمانی به را هایم چشم

آیم می تو از من فهمیدند همه و

کرد غروب جذبه وقتی اما

نشد تمام دل روز و

نفهمیدم ها چراغ نگاه از هیچ من

رفت و پرید شاعر که .یعنی

بمان من !با

خواهم می شاعرانه عمری ...!من

حجازی خاطره

75

Azita Ghahraman

THE LOST YOUTH

With such green parlanceWhat is your dialogue about?That the spring nakedTrembles inside my bones?!…Something elapsed,Something like light that is extinguished…And we stand nakedUnder this ruined archAnd the unfolded nightAnd the black silk that is fallen and skirted around our legs with broken stars. I look at my wrinkled hands,I glance at my aged palmsAnd know it well.Some thing is beyond this spring.Those wandering birds will not find a nest.

76

شده گم بهار

سبز کلمات این با

گویی؟ می چه از تو

عریان بهار که

هایم؟ استخوان میان لرزد می ...!اینگونه

است رفته یاد از چیزی

خاموشند که چراغها تمام مثل

برهنه که وما

ایم ایستاده ویران طاق این زیر

شبی نخورده چین و سیاه حریر و

پاهامان گرد افتاده فرو که

اش شکسته های ستاره با

کنم می نگاه را خود پیر های دست

کنم می نگاه را خود پیر های دست

دانم می خوب و

است رفته یاد از چیزی

77

سرگردان پرندگان که

یابند نمی جایی بهار این .در

قهرمان آزیتا

Reira Abbasi

STATION

My heart quickened again And the dew On the rose leaf, that reflectionFellMy hands quaked again And love wasanxious of agitation, that of the sun

HereIs the tremulous love station?And that forgetfulnessWhere the good-luck wishing corn-poppy flowersApplaud the abyss of two peopleAnd the valleys, those fields of butterfliesRejoice this darknessWithout a candleOr a beamYou see the lips…

78

ایستگاه

لرزید دوباره دلم

اندیشه گلبرگ روی وشبنم

ریخت فرو

لرزید هایم دست دوباره

شد خورشید تب نگران وعشق

جا این

است عشق آور رعشه ایستگاه

فراموشی آن و

شقایق گوی شاباش های گل که

گویند می تبریک را انسان دو سقوط ی ورطه

شاپرک از پر های دره و

را تاریکی این گیرند می جشن

شمع بی که

79

نور و

بینی می را ...لب

عباسی ریرا

Monireh Parvaresh

THE RIDDLE

I was bornwhen you were nineand I had nine years of literacy when you came to our homeand when you left I aged twice the nineand carved a poemNow guess when was I without you!…

80

معما

آمدم دنیا به وقتی

بودی ساله نه تو

آمدی ما خانه به وقتی

بودم خوانده درس کالس نه من

رفتی وقتی و

نوشتم شعر و شدم پیر سال نه دو من

کن حساب حاال

من

ام بوده تو بی !کی

پرورش منیره

81

Neda Aabkari

GREEN DREAMS

Street Is lonelyAnd silentWords do not tear the ropes They’re much tamer then we areMaidens reach home On whispered messagesAnd under the hidden tittering of little SouvenirsThey fall asleep and dreamMatured women they areIn the morning I take a stroll I know the gardenIs not but a stale intercourse, nowGreen dreams have uprooted trees Our eyes experience the chill colorsThe gaze is a contracted joy abandonedThe iris of the eyeI Leave with the moonVivacious memories of a river streaming passedWhen the night comes When I look upThe moon is not a Moon anymore.

82

سبز های خواب

خیابان

تنها

است خاموش .و

ها کنند طحرف نمی پاره را ها ناب

ترند اهلی بسی ما واز

آهسته های پیغام از دختران

رسند می خانه به

کوچک یادگارهای پنهان لرزش زیر

بینند می خواب

وصبح

کاملند زنانی

زنم می قدم من

باغ که دانم می و

است ای کهنه آمیزش دیگر

آورده بر ریشه از سبز های خواب را درختان

83

را سرد های رنگ ما چشمان

کنند می تجربه

دادی قرار است لذتی نگاه و

است وانهاده را مردمک که

من

را زودگذر رودی ی زنده خاطرات

سپارم می ماه به

هنگام شب و

نگرم می در چون

ماه

نیست ماه ...!دیگر

آبکاری ندا

84

Mehrnoush Ghorbanali

WHEN THEY AGE

The memoriesOnce they agepeevishWhether you remember themOr forgetpressured by a sinThey sulk awayAnd will not name oneAnd are wordless on having been in love in the past!

85

شوند می که پیر

ها شوند خاطره می که پیر

شوند می زودرنج

باشی یادشان به چه

کنی فراموش چه

کنند می خم پشت

عصیانی دنبال به و

شوند می دور

آورند نمی لب بر را نامی

کنند می تعجب و

که این اند از بوده عاشق روزی !

قربانعلی مهرنوش

86

Soudabeh Babagap

CONFESSION

The matrix is projectingA quiet childA fruitful fetus by many fathersI do not know their names.Those in the past or my futureOr the men you took from meAnd I misplaced their names.Cover me under the rock-strewn mountI admitI confessWhen the rain conceives the soilThe clouds will glide awayAnd the SunMakes way to the growing seeds under the dark soil.

87

اعتراف

آمده بر زهدانم

خاموش طفلی از

پدرهایی جان از بارور ...جنینی

دانم نمی را .نامشان

پیشینیان از

آیند می که آنها یا

گرفتید من از که مردانی یا

ام کرده گم را نامشان .و

بپوشانیدم سنگ های تپه در

کنم می اعتراف

کنم می .اعتراف

بشود باران آبستن زمین وقتی

روند می پس ابرها

آفتاب و

مال بر خاک ظلمت در را ها دانه شکفتن شعف

کند ..!می

باباگپ سودابه

88

Elham Gheytanchi

THE MIGRANT

I wish,I could turn my dreams into colorful earrings,For a Parisian gypsy to haveI wish,I could frame the portrait of my trust,For the hunchback of Notre Dame to dress inAnd thenPeaceful and light-wingedWith a suitcase full of lovebecome an eternal migrant

89

مهاجر

را رویاهایم خواست می دلم

کردم می گوشواری

رنگارنگ

پاریس سرگردان کولی یک های گوش به و

آویختم می

را امیدهایم خواست می دلم

کردم می قابی در تصویر

نتردامی پوش ژنده یک گردن به و

انداختم می

سبکبال و آسوده آنگاه و

عشق از پشتی کوله با

شدم می مرزی بی ابدی .مسافر

قیطانچی الهام

90

Pegah Ahmadi

NEITHER A SATELLITE NOR THE INTERNET

A poem ambles across the wallfor ever and a dayIn the heart of the kitchen spins,spins on the porchAnd when it returnsIt utters:Neither a Satellite nor the InternetI am not the universal MediaNothing but a new leaf on this arid plantOr the thought of a rendezvousMakes me rejoiceI am only a poem to brush the hairA poem to pass through you!

91

اینترنت نه ام، ماهواره نه

شعری همیشه

رود می اتاقم روی روبه دیوار تا

زند می چرخی آشپزخانه وسط

ای پرسه ایوان در

گردد می برکه و

گوید :می

اینترنت نه ام، ماهواره نه

نیستم که دنیا بلندگوی

خشک گلدان این ی دوباره دادن برگ جز به چیزی

مالقات قرار یک به کردن فکر و

کند نمی شادم

تنها من

موهام کردن شانه برای را شعری

هستم زدن قدم تو در برای شعری ...!تنها

احمدی پگاه

92

Geranaz Mousavi

I

Neither a person Nor am I, a sparrow A small incident, I amEvery time I happenI break in two partsOne part goes with the windThe other leaves with a man I do not know

93

من

گنجشک نه آدمم نه

کوچکم اتفاقی

افتم می هربار

شوم می تکه دو

برد می باد را نیمی

شناسم نمی که مردی را نیمی

موسوی گراناز

94

Rosa Jamali

THE LAST STREET IN TEHRAN 

En route to the airportMy hands are now a vast land, the extent of a palm facing the dicey emissions while the sun retreats to a sullen demeanor away from the loutish wasteland of this endless dream,displaced by my finger, cynical under my teeth. A vague breeze, a twister from the sand plain blows up to the alley behind my shelter.

Piece by piece are you pasting together slices of my face for me to sing the donkey’s bray? A short leap the size of a palmJust as much as your prophecy,A deep grave where you can lull to sleep the deepest night of the year, anchored against the pond.Sleep has migrated out of our eyelidsand has lost its grip on my lips. Piece by piece you are pasting together slices of my face for me to have a smile? They cut something with scissors, clickety clack . Are these traces of alphabets descended on the ground from characters in our identity?

With every other hiccup, solid and steady, in the midst of this wide-spread desert you've been keeping my

95

mother's gasp locked up in the terminal residing at the end of my palm. Her trace is lost in the sand.

Piece by piece you are pasting togetherslices of my face for me to have a smile? No! I will not return to the ending of this pair of shoes when I've left one behind for you to put it on andtrail me. Like an eccentric contoured image facing the horizons.The size of a palm!A high jump extended over 3 feetThe size of a palm…

96

تهران خیابان آخرین

فرودگاه به رو

تنگ ست سرزمینی دستهایم برآیند حاال

دست کف یک ی اندازه به

لیز افتاب به رو

است کرده قهر خورشیدش که

انگشتم که دراز خوابی داشت ادامه لوت دشت از

کرد می جا به جا را

. گنگ وزشی شد می سفت دندانهام میان

گردباد

شن دشت من از ی خانه پشتی ی کوچه تا !...

که چسبانید می را صورتم های تکه بریده بریده

...بخندم؟

دست کف یک ی اندازه به کوتاه پرشی

بودی کرده بینی پیش که همانقدر درست

بلند گوری

بخوابانی را سال شب بلندترین تا

- کرده کوچ ما های پلک از خواب

است کشیده لنگر حوض های کناره بر

97

کرده گم را هایش لب پارگی

چاره ...!بی

که چسبانید می را صورتم های تکه بریده بریده

...بخندم؟

کنند می قیچی خرت و خرت را چیزی

خاک روی افتاده که الفبا های تکه

ماست؟ نام حروف

درمیان یک های سکسکه توی

سفت و ثابت

پهن کویر این خاک وسط

بودید؟ کرده حبس را مادرم نفس

شد می گم شن الی

پاهاش جای

که چسبانید می را صورتم های تکه بریده بریده

...بخندم؟

...!نه

گردم نمی بر خیابان آخرین به

و بپوشی که ام گذاشته جا را کفش این از لنگه یک

بیایی دنبالم

گیرد می شکل عجیب نقشی

افق به ...رو

دست کف یک ی اندازه !به

98

کرد می تجاوز پا سه از بلندکه پرشی

دست کف یک ی اندازه ...به

جمالی رزا

99

Farzaneh Seyed Saeedi

ADAM!

Adam!I am lost among so many EvesAnd you among so many choicesGiving birth to CainCaptivated by the earth without an EdenHow will you indeed find me?

100

!آدم

!آدم

ام شده گم حوا اينهمه ميان من

تو و

انتخاب اينهمه ميان

؟ يافت خواهي مرا چگونه

زايم مي را قابيل درحاليكه

زمينم اسير بهشت و بدون

سعیدی سید فرزانه

101

Nazanin Bahadori

GAMBLER

A woman resembling meStandsTo award the stripped fallTo the most demanding suspicious typhoonThe river takes meThe luck loses to meI gamble my heartThis is all there is!

102

قمارباز

من چو زنی

ایستاده

را پاییز تن ترین برهنه تا

بدهد شک بادهای ترین حریص به

ببرد مرا رودخانه

ببازد من از شانس و

ام گذاشته قمار به را دلم

!همین

بهادری نازنین

103

Nasrin Behjati

A DAY WITHOUT YOU

And I commenced my dayWithout you or your nameI spilled you out of my teaOut of my breakfastFrom the kitchenAnd didn’t nurture the plants…so that I could witness your rageYour name from autumnThe autumn from the fieldAnd the field from the poems, I removedI heaved you out of my memories and the seasons And walked to the mirrorTo cut short the locks you loved soAlas! In the mirror a sunflower reflected Your unkind frame Outlined my face forevermoreI had become you!

104

تو بی روزی

تو نام بی را روز و

کردم آغاز تو اسم بی و

انداختم بیرون ام چایی درون از ترا و

انداختم بیرون ام صبحانه از

راندم بیرون ام آشپزخانه درون از ترا

... ببینم ترا خشم تا ندادم آب را ها وگلدان

پاییز از ترا نام

مزرعه از را پاییز

کردم حذف شعر از را مزرعه

راندم بیرون هایم خاطره و ها فصل گذرگاه از ترا

رفتم آینه کنار به و

داشتی دوست که را گیسوانی تا

بسپارم قیچی به

ها آینه در که افسوس

بود گردان آفتاب گل یک نصویر فقط

تو نامهربان تصویر انعکاس

بود انداخته سایه صورتم روی به ابد تا

بودم شده تو من ...!و

بهجتی نسرین

105

Mahnaz Hamidi

THE SECRET

Ah!I know a womanA womanWho hung herselfMidst of a nightBy her locks From moon’s awaiting grasp…

106

راز

!آه

شناسم می را زنی من

را زنی

شبی نیم که

را خود آویخت دار به

تباهش گیسوی با

ماه انتطار قالب ...از

حمیدی مهناز

107

Jaleh Chegeni

Here, it is all the same The same old St. Germain café The same rendezvous spotYou would come with lots of booksYour eyes, the green lightsAnd on your lips, the drawing of an unfinished confessionWhen passing through the door-like a man from the ancient Greek mythologyI would ask: Which tale have you left the white horse at?The scent of coffee and the warmth of your presence when we would take thetime to the ancient farOur walks along the River SeineAnd your tall fingers winding in my Hands, your whisper flowing in my veinsHere it is all the sameBut we are not

ست ا هميشه مثل اينجا

108

ژرمن سنت قديمی کافه همان

گاهمان ميعاد

کتاب از تلی با آمدی می

سبز چراغ چشمهايت

تمام نيمه اعتراف يک طرح لبهايت و

درگاه از گذرت در

يونان ای نه افسا مردان چون

: گفتمت ماند می قصه کدام در سپيدت اسب

تو حضور ُهرم و قهوه عطر

را زمان برديم می

دور های سطوره ا تا

رفتنها سن پياده رود های کناره در

تو بلند انگشتان و

دستهام در پيچيد می که

سيالت های زمزمه

رگها در توفيد می

ست ا هميشه مثل اينجا

اما

نيستيم هميشه مثل ما

چگن یژاله

Biographies

109

Afsaneh Salami Afsaneh has been anthologized and published. She lives in Iran.

110

Azita Ghahraman Azita was born to a literary family. She lives in Iran and continues to write prolifically.

Banafsheh Hejazi Banafsheh Hejazi received a B.A. from Tehran University. She has been active in different academic and literary fields and her works cover a wide range of topics, including children's literature, architecture, painting, and women's issues.

Batoul Adib Soltani

Batoul Adib Soltani is the author of several collections of poetry.

Elham Gheytanchi Born to an Iranian family, Elham teaches sociology at Santa Monica College (CA, USA). She completed her Ph.D. in 2001. Her field of research has been women in post-revolutionary Iran. She has also been a consultant to various broadcasting companies and radio programs in US and Europe.

Fakhr Ozma Arghoon

Fakhr Ozma Arghoon was a noted feminist, poet, newspaper editor, teacher, and writer.

Farideh Hassanzadeh

Farideh Hassanzadeh is an Iranian poet and translator. Her published translations include The Selected Poems of T.S. Eliot, Federico Garcia Lorca: A Life by Ian Gibson, Anthology of Contemporary African Poetry, The Selected Poems of Marina Tsvetaeva, Women Poets of the World, Latin American Poetry in the 20th Century and The Selected Poems of Iaroslav Sefert.

Farzaneh Seyed Saeedi

Farzaneh has a B.A. in computer programming. She started writing poetry at the age of nine. She works as a journalist and reporter in Tehran, Iran.  

Fereshteh Sari Fereshteh is a computer engineer and has a B.A. in Russian Language and Literature from Tehran University. During her literary career she has received a number of prizes and scholarships including the Lillian Hellmann-Dashiell Hammett from Human Rights Watch (1998) and a one-year scholarship from the International Parliament of Writers (1999). She was not politically active, but she raised human rights and free expression issues in her work and has been interrogated by Iranian officials. The publication of one of her novels was banned until 1997, and other books could not be reissued. Today she lives in Tehran, Iran.

Fereshteh Yamini Sharif

Fereshteh is a painter and a poet. She published her first collection of poetry in 2000. She lives in Iran where she continues to write and paint.

Geranaz Mousavi Geranaz is one of the most sought after Iranian contemporary poets. She currently lives in Australia.

Jahan Malek Khatoon

Jahan Malek Khatoon is a Persian poet who is known to be the first woman poet who had her poetry collected in a Divan. The two collections of her work are safely kept in National museum in Paris.

Jaleh Chegeni Jaleh is a contemporary poet and translator. She has studied literature at Sorbonne University and is the author of three bilingual poetry collections in French and Persian. Since 1988 Jaleh has been a resident of Paris, France.

Khatereh Hejazi Khatereh Hejazi has a B.A. in philosophy. Hejazi has published a number of collections of poems and short stories as well as two novels.

Leila Kasra Leila Kasra was a renowned Iranian poet and song writer. She passed away in the United States.

111

Mahasti Ganjavi Mahasti Ganjavi, who born at the end of 11th century in Ganja in Persia, received an education in Eastern literature and music. The most productive period other creation was spent in palace of Sultan Mahmud Seljuk and the palace of his uncle Sanjar Seljuk’s. She was a famous rubai in her era as well as later in history. The love holds the central theme in her creations. The rubais are marked out by their worldliness, humanism, epicurism and optimism.

Mahasti Shahrokhi Mahasti is an Iranian novelist, poet, editor, and the winner of numerous literary prizes. Her recent work was published in Another Sea, Another Shore: Persian Stories of Migration (Interlink World Fiction). Her novel, A Shawl as Long as the Silk Road (Baran Publication, Sweden, 1999), attracted critical attention. In addition to her literary achievements Mahasti is a journalist, and theater critic. She earned her Ph.D. in literature at the Sorbonne, France. She currently resides in Paris.

Mahin Khadivi Mahin Khadivi is an editor and poet living in Iran. Mahin is an active member of National Association of Writers.

Mahnaz Hamidi Mahnaz Hamidi is a U.K. based Iranian contemporary poet. She has authored two books of poetry to date.

Mahshid Naghashpour

Mahshid researches folk music and is a poet. She lives in Iran.

Mastoreh Kordestani

Mastoreh Kordestani was born to a reputable Kurdish family in Iran, Mastoreh was married but at the age of forty-four she passed away. She authored several books and more than two thousand poems.

Mehri Rahmani Mehri Rahmani is a published poet and a literary researcher living in Iran.

Mehrnoush Ghorbanali

Mehrnoush has studied Persian Literature. She is author of three collections and has worked for several literary journals. She currently works as a literary expert in Tehran, Iran.

Mehrunisa Begum Nur Jahan was born Mehrunissa in Persia. Her Persian grandfather was in service of Shah Tahmasp II who died in Yazd, laden with honors. His heirs, however, soon fell upon hard times and his son Mirza Ghiyas Baig immigrated to India with his family. In 1577, during the trip to India, Nur Jahan was born. She married a Turkish/Persian soldier. After her husband was executed in 1607, she became the lady-in-waiting for one of Jahangir's court women and the hand-maiden at the imperial harem in Agra. She met Jahangir in the spring festival of Norouz at the Palace bazaar in March 1611. He was so infatuated by her beauty that they were married in May 1611. Emperor Jahangir was captured by rebels in 1626 while he was on his way to Kashmir. Nur Jahan intervened to get her husband released. Jahangir was rescued but died on October 28, 1627. When Jahangir died, Asaf Khan took the side of his son-in-law Shah Jahan against his sister. Nur Jahan became a prisoner in a small house for the rest of her life. She died in 1645 and is buried in Shadara in Lahore.

Mina Dastgheib Mina is the author of four collections of poetry. She lives in Iran.Monireh Parvaresh Monireh was born in Tehran to a literary family. Both her grandfather and mother

were poets. Her mother passed away at age twenty-eight when Monireh was seven years old. Due to the revolution and the closing of universities for several years she was unable to continue with her higher education. She has authored two collections of poetry and her third collection is due for release in Iran where she lives.

112

Nasrin Behjati An Iranian contemporary poet Nasrin lives in Iran where she continues to write her poetry. She has published two collections of poetry.

Nasrin Ranjbar Irani

Nasrin was born in Shiraz, Iran. She earned her Ph.D. in Germany where she lives and writes prolifically.

Nazanin Bahadori She is a contemporary poet. Her poems have appeared in scores of literary journals, and anthologies. She lives in Iran.

Neda Abkari Born in Abadan, Iran, Neda has authored several books of poetry. She lives and continues to write in Iran.

Noorolhoda Mangeneh

In addition to being educated as psychologist, Noorolhoda was a poet, an editor, and an active member of women rights movements.

Padeshah Khatoon A 12th century (CE) Persian poet, Padeshah was the ruler of Kerman province in Persia.

Parvaneh Forouhar Parvaneh Majd Eskandari became a member of the Hezb-e Mellat-e Iran (a political party) when she was a student. She launched anti-Shah campaign alongside Dariush Forouhar whom she later married. Parvaneh and her husband remained politically active during the Islamic Republic's regime. She and her husband were assassinated in their home in 1998 during Ayatollah Khatami's presidency. The murders, which are believed to have been politically motivated, remain unsolved. There has been speculation from supporters of the Forouhars (as well as from critics of the Islamic Republic) that the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence was involved and ordered the killings. She was 60 years old at the time of her death.

Parvin Jazayeri Parvin is the author of five collections of poems. She lives and works in Iran.Parvin Shamsolhajieh

She was an Iranian poet during Ghajar dynasty.

Pegah Ahmadi She is the author of several collections of poetry. She lives in Tehran, Iran.

Pouran Farrokhzad Pouran was one of seven children born into a military family. She is a renowned contemporary Iranian poet, editor, translator and author of several acclaimed books and anthologies. Pouran's younger sister Forough is one the most influential women poets in any language. Her brother was assassinated in France for his outspoken political views against the current regime in Iran. Pouran lives and works in Tehran, Iran.

Rabe'eh Quzdari Rabe'eh Kaab Balkhi, also called as Rabi'ah Quzdari, was most likely the first female poet in the history of Persian poetry. The exact dates of her birth and death are unknown, but some evidence indicate that she lived during the same period as Rudaki, the Father of Persian Poetry, who was a court poet to Nasr II of Samanid (914-943).

Rira Abassi Rira Abbasi has recently published an anthology of poetry by Iranian poets inside Iran. She is author of several collections of poems. She lives in Iran.

113

Roghieh Kaviani Roghieh Kaviani work has been widely published and anthologized.

Rosa Jamali Rosa graduated from the Fine Arts University in Tehran. She is the author of three acclaimed collections of poetry. She lives in Iran.

Shahnaz A'lami In 1954, one year after the Shah's coup d'etat and the overthrow of Mosaddegh's government, Shahnaz A'lami left Iran and resided in the former East Germany. Among her many cultural roles, she ran an Iranian School. She passed away in Germany.

Soraya Bavaripour Soraya has authored one collection and is currently working on more poems. She lives in Iran.

Soudabeh Babagap Soudabeh emigrated from southern Iran after the Iraqi-imposed war. She graduated from the Islamic Training Center of Filmmaking in cinema directing. Besides filmmaking, she has also been involved in art as a writer, painter, poet, assistant director, scriptwriter and researcher. She lives in Iran.

Sylvana Salmanpour

Sylvana has authored four collections of poems to date. She lives in Iran.

Tahereh Ghoratolein

Tahereh Ghoratolein, also called as Zareen-Taaj, was born in Ghazveen in 1817. In 1848 she was the first Persian woman to unveil herself in public in the Islamic Era. Tahereh was one of the founders of what became the Baha'i religion. She was sentenced to death by the decree of Nasserudin Shah Qajar on August 15, 1853 in Tehran, Iran.

Zaifi Zaifi was a 15th century Persian poet.

Zandokht The Zand dynasty was founded by Karim Khan, chief of the Zand tribe. Zandokht, Karim Khan’s grand-daughter was eighteen when she established a women’s association and later published a magazine devoted to women.

Ziaolsaltaneh Shah Beygom

Shah Beygom was a Ghajar princess whose poetry was as expressive as her hopes for humanity.

An outstanding and honest voice from the Middle East, Sheema Kalbasi (born November 20, 1972, in Tehran, Iran) is a human right activist, an award winning poet, and literary

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translator. She is the director of Dialogue of Nations through Poetry in Translation, director of Poetry of Iranian Women Project, the poetry editor of The Muse Apprentice Guild and the co- director of The Other Voices International. She has authored two collections of poems, Echoes in Exile in English, and Sangsar (Stoning) in Persian.

Kalbasi's work has appeared in numerous magazines, literary reviews, anthologies, and has been translated into several languages. She is one of the few literary figures to promote poets of Iranian heritage as well as international poets to an English speaking audience. Furthermore she has created the horizontal and vertical, a new style in poetry. Kalbasi's work is distinguished by her passionate defense of the ethnic and religious minorities' rights.

She has worked for the United Nations and the Center for non Afghan Refugees in Pakistan, and in Denmark. Today she lives with her husband and daughter in the United States.

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