Esmail/by Mahnaz Badihian
Jan 132019
Esmail
For Esmail Khoi (Iranian poet in exile)
I’m talking to you Ismail.
when was the last time you had
a sip from the Caspian Sea
for your dreams to come true
When was the last time
your heavy shoulders
warmed up with happiness while
walking across Persepolis
Tell me, Ismail,
when was the last time
your laughter splashed
on your poems
on those cruel lonely days
did I see you quietly crying
walking across King’s Cross
remembering your country
and the ones you left behind
Tell me, Ismail, your heart couldn’t
tolerate life without
a cup-to-cup feast of drink
when you lost the things you loved
Where’s this road ending, Ismail
read me your longest poem
In the moments left to us.
I worte this poem ten years ago when Esmail spend a week in our house in Marin County SF
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