Aug 17 2007
Applaud!
April puts blossoms on branches, my mother said.
My father said, a passing man footprints in snow.
February* stormed to the streets when
I wasn’t there to sing.
These dreams don’t fool me, I speak.
I strike so that I’m not stricken, you with me?
This horse needs a giving
Not a heavy hand, let me be!
For I’ve been lost in this poem.
My mark is that I’ve dreamt somewhere
In this world they have duped the cat,**
Her sleeping limbs spread out
And stuck in the Gulf: She
Neither rose up against the arms commanding STOP!
Nor did she turn into stones rising, up in arms.
They stuck together to strike and were struck down.
Torture us!
In piles.
One by
One.
We have become accustomed
To the cobblestones of these alleys.
Kick us!
Some part of this shattering glass
will crack a smile.
You are folded over
The windows of this world–
Which you mistake for your toilet.
Let go of those opiumed-out cocks,
Catnapping petrol dreams.
This man, tied in thought over
His shoestrings, sheds his shoes.
This piss puddle of yours is in vain,
I’ll let you cast this earth into the sea.
Go ahead!
For concocting this ball
That you must drop,
Laud! Applaud!
Applaud yourselves!
*The Iranian Revolution culminated in February 1979.
**The map of Iran is in the shape of a “resting cat”, with the Persian Gulf to its south.
This poem is from a volume titled, This Dear Cat.
tr. Niloufar Talebi©2004