Night is not simply an empty solitude, left in the wake of the day’s relentless efforts. Night is not just fatigue, or the sinking into the pillow of “another day has passed.” Night is a deep pit, as vast as the space left by someone who should be here, but is not. And now youContinue reading “Night is not merely the absence of light, nor the disappearance of the sun.”
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“Revolution of Flowers and Kisses”
I was never meant to obey the law I had broken the chains Cracks had blossomed on the walls of order But you— You sparked a revolution within me Like the French Revolution Like a rising of flowers, of kisses, of art You conquered all of me And how magnificent your conquest was Without violenceContinue reading ““Revolution of Flowers and Kisses””
Birthday
You said you’ve memorized me, I said: then begin reading me From wherever you wish— —And you kissed my lips— I closed my eyes and said: I want to hear the rest of myself in the dark —And you kissed my lips— I said: keep going Continue the story you’ve begun And don’t be afraidContinue reading “Birthday”
Truly look at me
They who have departed have carried fragments of me to distant horizons. They who lie beneath the earth have entombed shards of my being with their silence… Gaze upon me — no, truly gaze! Deeper still! Is there aught left of me, that you, with your leaving, would yet seek to claim? — Nasim LotfiContinue reading “Truly look at me”
“A Proper Day for Your Absence”
I should have chosen the right day for your absence— perhaps in a chance winter, on a bitterly cold afternoon at the end of an utterly ordinary January day. I’d wear my usual black coat, wander through the streets, raise my hand for a tired, rusted taxi. He would ask, “Where to?” and I’d say,Continue reading ““A Proper Day for Your Absence””
I Love You — and That Is How I Know I’m Alive
Ich liebe dich – und das ist der Anfang meines Überlebens . Like a newborn’s first cry marking the miracle of breath, I had to say I love you just to know I was still alive. I had to say I love you with a thousand-year ache in my throat— so that the tired cloudsContinue reading “I Love You — and That Is How I Know I’m Alive”
The Freest Bird Alive
Behind these sentences you read, a woman is hiding— a woman who, if she could open her mouth, if she had a tongue, if she had a voice, if she had words, you would hear in her songs the freest bird in the world… …………… پشت این جملهها که میخوانی، زنی پنهان شده است؛ زنیContinue reading “The Freest Bird Alive”
A Reason for Peace
When the beauty of a deer, caught in the perfect focus of a hunter’s scope, makes the hunter hesitate— why doesn’t the beauty of so many women, framed by the world’s most powerful television lenses, pause violence even for a moment? Are these small, remaining beauties not reason enough for peace? Is looking in theContinue reading “A Reason for Peace”
The end
I am a wide river, flowing every day from the east to the farthest edge of this city. I curve, I twist— and the passersby shout each time: “Hey, mad one! What are you doing?” I only ever wanted to become the sea. But strange fish told me strange birds would tear apart the blueContinue reading “The end”
Sunset
This chair— the one I sat on for years, watching the dusk melt into itself— one day will rise, stand on its own frame, wrap a rope around one trembling leg, and hang itself from the ceiling in silence. And years later, there will be a collapsed ceiling, gazing at the crimson edge of eveningContinue reading “Sunset”
Nasim Lotfi – Poet & Writer 