POETRY

Translated by Kamran Talattof

Stay Neda
The birds are singing
The forests are green
Flowers are blooming
It is Spring
Do not go Neda

Stay Neda
Sing with your people in the streets
Say Long live life!
Down with death!
Tell the sun to shine
Tell the cold to depart
Do not go Neda

Stay Neda
Look at this city
At the shaken foundation of palaces
How tall are Tehran's maple trees
The "dust" has made
the air bad for the oppressor
Do not go Neda

Do not be afraid
It is the sound of fireworks not bullets
It is a spark for a fire
We are on fire
We are the fire
Due to batons and gunshots
We are a blazing fire
Do not go Neda

Oh Neda, oh Neda
Breath
Rise
Knock on the cage
Brake through the bars
Do not go Neda

Do not go Neda
Wait
Look beyond the clouds
Lady sun wants you to come
She is just like you, but
Do not go Neda

Note: This is a translation of Persian poem circulating on the web and posted here. Kamran Talattof is a professor of Persian language and literature and Iranian culture at the University of Arizona.