Me and you, tree and rain

Translation by Ahmad Sadri
August 16, 2005
iranian.com

I am Spring, you the earth,
I am Earth, you the tree,
I am Tree, you, the Spring --
The charm of your rainfall fingers
Makes me a garden,
Takes me in jungles.

You’re immense, like the night.
Moonlight or no,
..........You’re immense,
....................Like the night.

You’re the moonlight, itself, the moonlight.

And what if the moonlight is gone
..........and still
The lonely night
..........must
Go a long way to reach the threshold of the day --

You’re immense and deep
..........Like the night.
And what if the day comes?
You’re fresh
..........Like the dew,
....................Like the dawn
You’re the velvet clouds,
The smell of grass.
You’re thin as that fabric of fog:
....................That fabric of fog
That is gone astray on the aroma of the grass
Left there clueless
..........Between coming and going,
....................Between life and death.

Like the snows, you are
And what if the snows melt and leave the mountain bare?
You’re like that high, proud peak
Laughing at clouds of darkness, winds of malice...

I am Spring, you the earth,
I am Earth, you the tree,
I am Tree, you, the Spring --
The charm of your rainfall fingers
Makes me a garden,
Takes me in jungles.

About
Ahmad Sadri is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Lake Forest College, IL, USA. See Features. See homepage. This article first appeared in Shargh newspaper in Iran.