POETRY

Leila and Forough

I see a distance between Leila's poem and Forough's work, the distance that spans Iran's history and its human condition.  I think both are voices of courageous, talented women and poets of their respective times.   Forough even though laments many social situations, her poetry speaks to me of a certain sensual awakening, eventhough she is often sad, she is still feeling and in her defiance is hopeful she can experience pleasure.  I think the society in which Forough lived, with all its limitations, allowed for such an experience (her work was published), her movies shown.

Leila's poem to me is a stoic tale, that speaks of a profound cerebral dispair.  It is the voice of a woman who has lived through a war, has seen executions has been a refugee and has felt humiliation, if not personally but through a collective experience.  Leila's work to some extent reminds me of some of the existentialist works after WWII,  this is not a woman who speaks of the sensuall world openning up to her but a senselessly cruel world that she chooses to close to her unborn child.  It speaks of a woman who is disturbingly aware and disillusioned.  In her profound disillusionment, she negates knowledge (the passage JJ has quoted ) she negates morals and eventually she negates life itself.  Where Forough's poetry is pushing the gate to the garden of senses open, Leila's poem wants to close the door to the wasteland of atrocities.  Leila's poem is a distinct and important voice of contemporary Iran.  

Ps. Not that I feel a comparison is necessary, but because the topic has come up before on this thread. 

One of the better poems on this site...

     albeit, one has to squint ones analytical eye a bit to appreciate this! ;-)

Powerful poem

Thank you, dear Leila, for this poignant gem.

Azadeh

Barking up the wrong tree

I repeat part of my previous post with bold highlights and capitals, so it's easier for you to read:

"To me that finally explains, why MOST of contemporary Persian poetry is STUCK in a timewarp of never-ending SENTIMENTALITY and COPIED ideas.

Good job in this poem though with the Foroogh RHYTHM"

Poem is an alive matter

I agree completly with Leila. Poem is an alive substance, if you dissect it, like all alive matter, you will kill it.

Another thing you mentioned and is correct, it is that for many Iranians, an honorable poet is a dead one ! Same kind of people had offended Forough when she was alive and now she is a reference. Iranians are known for being "mordeh parast"

Leila jan, I apreciated your poem and published in NYDIPS group //www.facebook.com/#!/groups/26255916530/

Please continue publishing on Iranian.com. You are always welcome at home.

Sincerly yours

 Orang

 A Poet is at the same

 A Poet is at the same time a force for Solidarity and for Solitude -- Pablo Neruda /

"It is the chain of communicat­ion, not the means of production­, that determines a social process."

-- Robert Anton Wilson

Leila jan

I do agree that sometimes, overanalysis of each word in a poem can be counterproductive. Thanks for your reply.

Dear Anahid: yes, there's

Dear Anahid: yes, there's certainly a difference of opinion; I do believe if one tries to dissect and scrutinize each word in a poem, one will lose all the meaning in the verse/sentence. So a purely cerebral or I should have stated more accurately an "over-analytical" approach in my opinion deviates the reader...
Tiger Lily: thank u for the in-depth examination of contemporary Persian poetry and Iranian poets. My dear friend Mana Aghaee and I started Sherophone podcasts so that individuals like you will awaken from their thousand year-old stupor and understand that Persian poetry produced in Iran and abroad since thirty some years ago hardly qualifies as "sentimental" or "caught" in a time warp. Even well before the revolution, in 1350's and 40's there were poets whose poetry was extremely well-crafted, unique, and incomparable, such as Shamlou, Najdi, Elahi, and so forth, easily equal to their western counterparts. It's blatantly obvious that some do not follow the work of any contemporary poets from my generation and the previous ones to arrive at a fair and educated conclusion or we would have benefited from a more informed readership.
As far as comparing female Iranian poets to Forough....what an old story...

Difference of opinion

I do believe that poetry can be for analytical minds. There is no reason that an analytical mind can not also be inspired.

Thanks

That was good, but this really is an eye-opener:

"Anyway, poetry is not for analytical minds; it's for the inspired,
that's why I shy away from making any responses or remarks as I used to
in the past, when I was younger and more foolish."

To me that finally explains, why most of contemporary Persian poetry is stuck in a timewarp of never-ending sentimentality and copied ideas.

Good job in this poem though with the Foroogh rhythm.

زنده باد

عالی بود و چه دردناک 

Thank you dear Leila

This is very nice of you to answer my question, so fast. I truly appreciated. I sent it to my friends along with the link for your other works.

We all thank you, for having shared this one with us.

Souri, answering your question

Of course, 2050 AD and not the archaic Persian calendar, the poem is referring to less than 40 years from now. You could call it a futuristic premonition.

by the way, I haven't left a comment on Iranian for years; I didn't want to be rude in not responding to you Souri. Anyway, poetry is not for analytical minds; it's for the inspired, that's why I shy away from making any responses or remarks as I used to in the past, when I was younger and more foolish.

Thanks for the question, I hope my answer helps,

many thanks to every one who has left a comment for this poem, negative or positive, all is appreciated.

Mehrban, I hope your comment reappears, if not, I have read it, and thank u.

Leila

I have a question

Ms Leila, I sent this very powerful poem to my friends. One of them asked me what do you mean by 2050?

She thinks that 2050 is refering to the Persion calender, while I think you meant 2050 of the Western Calender. Would you please explain us why did you chose this date? Thanks.

Thanks Leila jan for your poem

I agree with Jahanshah and Vildemose. Powerful and brutally honest poem.

I think it is awfully rude for the editor

to move an article to the front page from the blog section as a result erase the comments as if they mean nothing (maybe they do not) and give a silent treatment to a comment addressed to him while he clearly has seen the comment.   

It tells me that readers do not matter, the editor is only interested in the known entities.  By the way, this poem is not at all beautiful it is powerful, it is sad and is mad it is what we have become under the weight of war, zoor and constant nonsense; hopeless!. 

Brutally

Brutally honest. Bitterly evocative. 

"It is the chain of communicat­ion, not the means of production­, that determines a social process."

-- Robert Anton Wilson

Lovely

I have never liked Leila Farjami's work (sorry) but this one is something else. Truly moving! Very very beautiful.

Beautiful

Powerful poem. Thank you for sharing

جای شکرش باقی ست
که یکی از ما
نمی داند
فلسفه چیست
اخلاق چیست
امپریالیسم چیست
کمونیسم چیست
و چرا سقط جنین
این همه درد دارد

JJ jaan

Where are our comments?  You know, these comments are not reproducable they are spontaneousely generated as one reads the poem for the first time.  All this after I have joined your line of Maddahs :).