POETRY

I am traveling north

Leaving Tehran in a car

With my family

On a snaking road

I am going up and through

The craggy mountains

The air is cool and refreshing

Cold snow-melt water

Wet the rock walls

Lining the mountain road

I pass through the tunnels

Dark and cave-like

Prompting mischief

They are so much fun

The mountains are turning green

The road begins a descend

Into the Caspian plain

I am staring keenly

At the green and lush landscape

I am daydreaming

I imagine my self

Living in the forest

Fishing, hunting

Self-reliant

The road follows the rushing streams

It is taking me by villages and rice patties

Soon I am on the shores of the Caspian

It is rainy and very humid

The air is warm and heavy

Walking on the warm sand

I behold the sight and the sounds

Of the rumbling waves

Breathing in the moist and salty sea breeze

I go for a swim

Then I comb through the beach

For the things the waves bring in

The colors of the sky and sea

Are changing every few minutes

Looking toward the horizon

The vast sea, stretching far

I wonder what the future holds for me

It is the summer of 1978

I am 15 years old

Without the slightest hint

That this may be the last time

I am setting my eyes

On my beloved Caspian

-Rotterdam, Netherlands

This poem was first published in Payam-e-Ashena, a Southern California Iranian-American community journal.