A World Cup winning formula
And three other poems

November 20, 2005
iranian.com

A WORLD CUP WINNING FORMULA

The prophet was fit
And a natural born leader
He would have enjoyed soccer
He might have even played it,
If he knew the game

Given his qualities
He would be a central player
And the captain

Ali could have also played
In offense or defense
As he was accomplished in both

Oh, were it possible to include
The other eleven Imams
We would then have the most pious
The most holy team

A team nobody could beat
Yes, a World Cup wining team!

COME ON ABOARD

It is a social affliction
Of the masses
To conform
Their lives
Their beliefs and values
To mainstream norms
Habitually and uncritically

Lest someone asks them
"What are you doing?"
And "why are you doing it?"

Perplexing questions indeed
To which they have no answers
Yet they point to others like them
And say "is it not obvious?"

And I wonder to myself,
What if in their childhood
They had read Behrangi's
The Little Black Fish?

LAND OF VEGETABLES

I had a dream
I was in a land of vegetables

There were potatoes telling me
That I must learn to role with the punches
If I want to get on there

There were carrots saying
Stand tall and firm
That I must learn to look my best
That is the secret to success

And there were tomatoes
Advising me to keep things inside

Next day when I woke up
I left the city for good
And became a hermit
And a vegetarian

WHEN I AM GONE

My beloved,
When I am dead,
Do not come to seek me
By my grave
There will be nothing there
But my cold bones

Seek me instead in my essays
And my poems
There is where
I will always live

-- Rotterdam, Netherlands