A documentary on Alexander's attack on Persia triggered the writing of this poem (which came to me spontaneously after watching the film).
In the beginning,
In the crystal net of stars,
There was darkness,
There was light.
Over the face of the oceans,
Over the face of the earth,
Over the face of the moon,
There was darkness,
There was light.
In the beginning of our glory,
Over the face of the earth,
In the widening rise of fear,
My country,
was the captive of the night.
That crested flower of the world
Lay sleeping in the night,
Hate turned the key of our door,
She was raped and ripped off
by the forces of the night.
We
are the memories
that float on the face of Persia.
We live to tell the tale;
We blend with the tone of the earth;
We stretch out our breath in anger;
Our breasts keep pounding drums;
We squeeze the pain of centuries in our hands;
We live to sing the song,
of our country
Persia.
