Vote for Superman

April 2, 2007
iranian.com

he can be your tight chastity belt

and loose pimp

he can be your part-time confidant

and full-time traitor

he can be your cool modernist

and jealous spy

he can be your forgiving lover

and vengeful father

he can be your earthly Don Juan

and heavenly Imam

he can be your temporary God

and permanent Satan

he can be your curing homeland

and cancerous exile

he can be what you want him to be:

as virile as his mustache

as commanding as his frown

as wrathful as his weapon

as addictive as his opium,

oh, yes!

he can be it all,

he can have daughters who will obey,

he can have wives who will bow,

he can have lovers who will concede,

he can have maids who will serve,

he can have mothers who soothe,

oh, yes!

he can have it all,

Vote for superman!

before he runs to a corner and sobs

with a crushed heart of a little boy

who has lost his broken toys

to the hidden hand of an eternal pain. Comment

Leila Farjami is a published poet, translator, Family and Child Psychotherapist, and Art Therapist in Southern California. Her latest book is "Eteraafnaameye Dokhtaraane Bad" (Baran Publishers, 2006). Visit her web log at LeilafFarjami.blogspot.com