Arts and Literature

King’s Cross

After the tunnel of darkness, there was finally light as the train pulled into the station. A sudden jolt thrust the passengers forward and inertia pulled them back once the carriage came to a complete stop. I was convinced we were lost. I had explained to him on the way how we were headed in the wrong direction. Now that the train had stopped I was not so sure. There were too many different color tracks meeting at this very stop. I was confused. So I said we needed to disembark and reset the course. He nodded. I took the gesture as assent. The doors slid open. A rush of bodies spilled out of the carriage and with it so did I. Terra Firma. I expected to find him right behind me. I looked over my shoulder, to the left and then to my right. I turned around and was aghast to find that he had remained behind on the train>>>

I hope I am wrong

After about 70 years in existence, the BBC Persian Service is naturally a household name in Iran. In a move calculated to expand its reach in the Islamic Republic, BBC Persian has ventured into television. Launch is just weeks away. Though satellite television is illegal in Iran, more than half its urban dwellers have access to satellite television by some estimates. Over the past few years, the number of Persian-language satellite stations has continued to grow. At last count, there were about 50 stations, most of which are based in Los Angeles, home to the largest Iranian expat community>>>

شباهت سکس و مذهب

حرف روحانیّت همیشه این بوده که زن و مرد مثل آتش و پنبه هستند و آنی که در کنار هم قرار بگیرند در هم افتاده و شعله ور میشوند. بنابراین واجب شرعیست که به هر وسیله که شده این دو جنس را ازهم دور و جدا نگاهداشت تا اسباب معصیت و گناه فراهم نیاید. بهمین جهت آنها دائماً در تلاش نگاهداری از ناموس و عترت و عورت و عصمت و در یک کلام قایم کردن سکس امّت اسلامی هستند. چه خوب میشد اگر رهبران مذهبی همین حسّاسیّت را در مورد خودِ مذهب هم نشان میدادند و آنرا مانند سکس از صحنهَ عریان دولت و جامعه به پشت درهای بسته میبردند. چرا؟ به این دلیل که سکس و مذهب از بسیاری جهات شبیه به هم هستند. بعنوان مثال: >>>

گردش و برگردش

می بینی که آهو می خرامد
ترا می نگرد وانگاه
با گامهای ترد و پرنده
از سر علف و گیاه و خار می جهد
می بینی که در محاصرۀ کوههایی
و ابرها بر تو چتر می بندند >>>

The Widow’s Tale

I felt an upheaval in the universe. Not a single atom shifted position or changed state, but the world flipped, as though it had been a perceptual illusion. The cube that turns inside out, the chalice that becomes two faces. But when the cube turning inside out is the whole universe, the sensation is no longer one of amusement. It is the utmost terror. The jinn kept his imploring stare on me. My instinct was to run out of the cemetery. But the walls receded explosively in all directions, enlarging the graveyard faster than I could hope to run. All around me was nothing but an expanding ocean of Koranic verses interspersed with dates of birth and dates of death. This is it! I thought to myself>>>

داستانی نه تازه

مرد راه داشت که از کنار آن دو تا دختر که نزدیک به در، روبروی هم ایستاده بودند رد شود اما نمی دانم چرا آمد درست ازمیان آن دو گذشت و کیف سیاه پلاستیکی اش اصابت کرد به دست دختری که هم داشت حرف می زد و هم روغنی به لبهای خود می مالید. دخترگفت "هوی!" مرد نشنید یا نشنیده گرفت؟ و سرانجام چیزی را که می خواست ازتوی جیب بغل درآورد، یک بلیط اتوبوس بود، آمد کنارمن ایستاد که کمی آنسوتر چسبیده به شیشه ایستاده بودم وسعی می کردم بی آنکه دخترها متوجه شوند نگاهشان کنم، و مرد حالا داشت دنبال کسی می گشت که بلیط خود را به او بدهد، انگار نمی دانست در اینجور اتوبوسها تو فقط باید بلیط خود را در جیب داشته باشی که اگرماموران مربوطه وارد شدند بلیطت را به آنان نشان بدهی.دخترگفت "با کیف لعنتی ش داشت من را کورمی کرد.">>>

گفتگو

می سوزم و اما . . .
آبم نمی کنی؟
"نمی گیریم از موم؟
نمی خوای بگزی
آواز زنبورها رو
از کندوی لبام؟
آبم نمی کنی؟" >>>

Circled the world 3 times over

I feel like Marco Polo
I’m circling the world solo
Then I met u
An hour turned into a day, a day turned into a mid summer nights dream
The future I’ve already seen
There’s no white picket fence
Things are very tense >>>

British, Persian or German?

Reza Shah truly instigated the wide ranging modernization of Iran from a filthy, backward and lawless shell-of-an-state, to a functioning and advancing society. With the new roads and trucks, the all too frequent famines of the earlier twentieth century disappeared. Under the new army’s watchful eyes, bandits and tribes could no longer rob the caravans or invade towns and villages. The new schools and colleges gave hope and purpose to many youths for a better future and the flourishing of their talents. Emancipation of women encouraged that half of the population to play a more active role in public life. Municipal modernizations, public health initiatives and vaccinations, lowered the infant and general mortality rates and provided a brighter outlook for young families. >>>

غوغا

زنجیری که به پای من است
عشق نوباوگان وطن است.
مگر تو نمیدانی
قلبی که در سینه اِشان میرقصد
طبل جنگ گیلان من است.
خونی که در رگشان میجوشد
انتقام مام وطن است.
این ابریشم نتابیده
حرف حساب من است. >>>

Lost in a Dream

I dreamt of you last night
lost, I could see the end near
on the road I walked to reach you
trees of apple tall, flowering in the hands of the wind
drinking from my heart
and I wished you
like the moment gone... >>>

کـــرد ويـــــران، کـــرد ويـــــران

می شنيدم
از لب شيرين پيران خردمند
مستمر  اين برترين و بهترين پند :
آه ای خوش باوران کم سوادِ پر افاده
اين چنين بی فکر و تدبير و درايه
مرز و بوم و مملکت، کردن اداره
آخر ای مستان قدرت ، اين روش  تا کی ادامه؟ >>>

Pulse

At the office Christmas party, my boss told me about a new gym that recently opened in the area. On the way back home one day I drove past the plaza and looked up to see a big neon sign announcing the arrival of ‘Pulse’ to my neighborhood. I fell in love with the name. So I punched a reminder in my Blackberry to take my personal pulse to the one down the road sometime soon. We had been out the night before and hadn’t got home till late – the last of the holiday parties eke out every ounce of joy and goodwill. So when the alarm goes off at 7 a.m. on the first Sunday of January, I am none too thrilled to remember my New Year resolution. His leg plops over mine – his code for “how about a little”. >>>

40-year-old dream

The Iranian nuclear enrichment program and its potential to create weapon- grade uranium that could be used for making bombs is the hottest topic of discussion among the western powers and international community. In order to better understand Iran’s intention, one must look back to its origin and study the history behind its current activities. Iran’s ambitious plan to acquire nuclear power is nothing new and dates back to the late Shah of Iran. It was his government’s desire to acquire the nuclear technology of the present time. During the past several years, a number of misguided attempts have been made to uncover the truth behind Iran’s nuclear activities>>>

Marked Treasure

Eight paces from the gate,
Sixteen paces toward the wall.
Which scroll speaks of this treasure?
Oh, earth!
If only I could feel your pulse
Or make a jug out of your body.
Alas! I'm not a physician.
I'm not a potter.
I am only an heir, deprived >>>

دلتنگی

تار های دلتنگی ام را
بر در غار دوستی می تنم

باور هایم چه عمیق
بااصحاب کهف به خواب رفته اند >>>

Live with it

As long as we are alive (and alas, many are not), and we still have a functioning mind and heart, and good friends to remind us of that, we can still live a worthy life: Simply absorb the meaning of the characters inscribed on the Tsukubai (water basin) behind the Rock Garden in at the Ryoanji Temple in Kyoto: "I learn to be content". These five words can be understood in different ways, but when I came across them in January, I realized that we, Iranians, got it all wrong when we followed the carpe diem philosophy of Khayyam, when he claimed, a wine cup in one hand and the tresses of his beloved in the other:>>>

شعر گفتن

شعر گفتن
مثل لخت شدن است.
رنگم باز چرا برگشته؟
این لکه کنار دهان
از آن روزی است که به خودم
دروغ گفتم. و این داغ
از خود سوزی آن شب است >>>