In response to April Fool's feature on messages from Iranians to “others” in the universe:
Hello out there!
I don't know if you have a language, but even if you do, I probably will not understand it. I am only human, and as such, my knowledge and perception is limited. I have a feeling you may understand my words. After all, man must be an uncomplicated and simple life form to you.
We are so simple that we think God has created the universe just for us. Please don't laugh, I'm serious! We feel we are the superior form of life and although we have yet to succeed to know another planet, we believe to be the only form of intelligence in the world. We unabashedly overlook our limitations and believe that what we do not know must not exist.
Let me describe us to you. We are creatures with two hands, two legs, one head and a very small brain. We are accident prone, and fragile. Even a tiny germ is able to terminate us. Furthermore, we are the only life form known to kill our own kind. That's not all, sometimes, if faced with a big problem, we attempt to kill ourselves. We eat other life forms, can be cruel to our own offspring and invade one another. We have social laws which we often break if we are sure we won't be caught.
We live on a globe called the Earth. It is so small, you may not even know about it. But trust me, it's there. It is that insignificant dot to the left of the vast universe. Because we are not very intelligent, we need to work hard to obtain comfort. We also thrive for happiness — a feeling of lightness also known as joy — though we seldom succeed to find it.
We have divided our small planet into over two hundred pieces we call a country. Country means a piece of land that one belongs inside its borders. Some of us change countries and are called foreigners. There are a few men and women who are even less intelligent than the average man, these are people we call politicians who feel they rule the world and that their decisions makes a difference. However, we have records called history that shows how man's life stays very much the same and how after millions of years not only has he failed to concur another planet, but is about to destroy the one he has.
I must say, we are not as hopeless as we sound. I would like to enlighten you by talking of faith and love. Man feels superior because of his emotions. We are capable of love and live for our hopes and dreams. It is the dream that keeps us going and we believe that there is more to us than this life. It would be good to know what it is that awaits us on the other side. Perhaps we are going to join you out there in a better place. Or maybe our simple lives are going through a process of maturity to make us more complete. Maybe we will re-unite with all the loved ones we have lost. Who knows? There is even talk of meeting God after all. Whatever it is, we continue to dream about it and never let our miseries on Earth take that hope away.
Now that I have told you all about us, I hope to hear from you, too. I am sure you can find me on Earth. I live in a country called the United States. Ask anybody, they'll know the way, but please, don't try your UFOs or anything like that. We are on the alert for terrorism. (I believe it is code orange these days.) Any unknown character or suspicious means of travel is sure to be destroyed without question. You can write me, and if you are as smart as I think you are, you may write in Persian.
Sincerely,
Zohreh Ghahremani, from the planet Earth.
Author
Zohreh Khazai Ghahremani is a freelance writer, poet and artist. She lives in San Diego, California.
