Best Iranian Poems
Masha Amini was an Iranian woman who was kept captive in jail for clamoring for Women’s Rights. Later she died in police custody under suspicious circumstances. Her death led to widespread civil unrest and protests. This is in the voice of Masha/ Civil uprising in Iran-Year, 2022
What crime did I do to deserve this?
To be brutally beaten and imprisoned?
When rapists, rogues and robbers roam scot-free
What crime did I do to deserve this persecution?
I am a woman of self-respect and dignity
I believe man and woman have equal rights
I wish to see my sisters walk in dignity
I can’t but rebel against all man-made manacles,
That bind a woman’s hands and legs,
Putting shackles on her mind, and body.
My mind revolts when we can’t walk free.
So offensive it is to cover our heads with hijab
And wrap ourselves in several folds of linen.
I feel it a blatant denial of human rights.
I am sure the unreasonable restrictions imposed,
Will smother and cripple the fair sex.
I am allegedly arrested and am now in prison bars,
For violating and disrespecting Iran’s ‘Modesty code’
The fanatics dream that with my death,
The clamor for freedom will die down.
I am sure it will only blaze fierce in future days,
Thousands will join, holding hands,
Pledging their solidarity for a common cause,
Drawing inspiration from me and women like me.
Again, our shrieks for freedom,
Can never be stifled or silenced.
In cloistered darkness, I wait,
Hoping to witness a bright sunrise.
(for The Beloved and in honor of Arthur Rimbaud)
… the magnolias are far away – still, I sing, begging
them for bridges to
brood with stanzas of butterflies
in the suffocation around and
heat mocking the sea where once we walked the shore
beneath the cruel commas of hawks
showering seraphimic curses,
pink roses upon storms
flung upward from spotted, inverted baskets, northern Iranian
mountains
aching
praying
wandering
the cavern between the olive-minuet of your eyes and
mine absconding their color from above and knitted by
anguished waves stumbling, floundering
into lunar mercury,
the slant of scouring rain
throwing blue into our faces
in cadences
dribbling from
lemons and leaves of tea, strong with riots
of black peppers hurting our tongues
along the central street
of our knowing, speaking
silence
without riddles
yet wrapped about our shoulders
with brazen mysteries hovering above
the staring magnolias
which now have crowded in...
… though I still sing
and always will...
… of you...
[“It nourishes the spirit and feeds the imagination” ~ Ryszard Antolak]
In the desert of Abarkuh
this magnificent cedar stands,
a symbol of beauty and happiness,
liberty and justice; the triumph of life.
Was it Zoroaster or Japheth
who planted this sacred Iranian tree
which has withstood the test of time,
defying nature’s most fierce elements?
There it stands, savouring memories
of distant years, witness to the birth
and growth of modern civilization.
It bears no fruit, but it feeds the spirit
and offers shade to those who seek it.
Age takes its toll. Weary yet defiant
it clings on to stubborn faithful roots
waiting for the master to call its name
while swallows huddle in its welcoming
branches, whispering, as the sun goes down,
keeping her company right till the very end.
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Period of Time ~ a 4,000 year old tree
Contest: Punctuation Personified
Sponsor: Debbie Guzzi
They spied me in the sky, dropping bombs of love
on Ferguson, and bitchy women's rooms; and rednecks'
shooting range was next, the blooded boxing glove.
They spotted me in Tel-aviv and also in Tehran, collecting
Jewish kisses for the Iranian Imam.
They toasted me in the family courts, breaking hearts
I quickly soothed, and at their breakfast;Klu Klux Klan,
I spread their toast with jam.
They gifted me with patted back in Auschwitz and
Guantanamo, compassion was my hand; while Isis
and Seal Team 6, provided me a marching band.
They lauded me with accolades, the bankers and the poor,
while serial killers and the FBI, shot my name into the sky,
like Gotham on the screen.
And now I rest my head this night, beneath the troubled moon,
for tomorrow I go partying, with venerable, Ban-Ki-moon
President Donald Trump Is On The Precipice Of Starting A Global War
Trump has said that if Iran doesn't open the Strait of Hormuz by 8 pm Eastern Time, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”
The darkest words on the darkest page of the darkest chapter of Trump's darkest book are being played out today and being read with possible grave consequences. With every minute nearing the deadline, I feel like a knife is stabbing my heart. Because if Iran and Trump don't see eye to eye, it will be a very sad ending if Trump carries on with his plan. If Trump lights the match, it may prompt America's enemies, namely Russia, China, and North Korea, to side with Iran and martyrdom. But I think it will go deeper than this when all eyes of the world's population are watching on and see America wipe out Iran's whole civilization (93 million people), our country is going to pick up a lot of hate, collateral damage, and enemies.
Unfortunately, Trump is digging a hole when he didn't have to.
What would George Washington do? He probably looks at the other 80% of the oil that doesn't transport through the Strait of Hormuz and other energy sources, or even drills at home instead of committing genocide (which is the direction Trump is going towards). You see, some Presidents can think and don't suffer from an inferiority complex or narcissistic behavior.
Upon hearing all this, I'm very upset and sickened. Trump's ultimatum is a ticking time bomb. He's put America's way of life at stake, where our future livelihood and safety are very vulnerable to being attacked by our mounting enemies. Even as we speak, our allies and NATO are giving Trump the cold shoulder and are reluctant to assist in forcing Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz.
Normally, I'd pray for a windfall in my direction--good health, good deals, good catches, good friendship, and good wealth, but today I would trade all those prayers and pray for the Iranian people, their families, their cultures, and their way of life. I can empathize with them being pawns under their government's regime during this war and being under extreme duress as their country faces Trump's ultimatum today. I pray to God that there is a shining light at the end of the tunnel and that Iran is saved.
connie pachecho
4/7/26 430pm EST
Forever war, an effort
to remove the Iranian regime.
Or is it just more of diversion from
his dirty sins? What comes after the
sirens ringing out. Spiraling out of control?
Slaughter and retaliation. Tis escalating, is the
Iranian Civil War. In division they stand, half are
in dire rage, they are. Allah, O divine intervention
for fractured souls, whilst the other half are elated!
Soldiers, journalists, reporters, Revolutionary Guard
Corporation, unrest, kill war machines, IDF strikes
human tragedies about to unfold.
\ \ \ \ | | / / / /
US Ambassadors
may be in this
chaos
for a
hundred
more years!—RAL
gutted our voice staff
uprising or diversion?
US SOS
USA/Israel/ Iran War
2/28/26
( Poem about Kurdish Iranian teenager attacked in Croydon)
Refugee boy
Just 17
Yet your eyes have seen so much
Now so far from home and loved ones
You thought you were free from danger
In your land of refuge
Life was routine again
College and a visit to the teahouse on the way home
It was familiar, cosy
You said you were lucky you were here
Just before…
A pack of ‘hyenas’ set upon you
You had invaded their ‘territory’
Drunk and vicious subhuman dregs of society
They kicked your slender frame
Again, again and again
They cracked your skull, your spine
And left you for dead
Some ‘hyenas’ circled
Watched and jeered
You are stronger than them
They could not break your spirit
You were meant to live, Godspeed
(The scene from Movie Ulzhan, Drama/German screened at 2007 Festival de Cannes)
( English Style)
I met, Shakuni, in a foreign land
He was a seller of precious words
He travelled a lot and the words he sold.
I met, Shakuni, in a foreign land.
Sold words like “Moksha” an Indian word
Meaning a peaceful death without bad deeds
I met Shakuni, in a foreign land
He was a seller of precious words.
I met Shakuni,in a foreign land
He was a seller of precious words
In words“O.K., Ciao,” not interested
I met Shakuni, in a foreign land.
He liked “saudade”, the Portuguese word
Meaning melancholy, longing andlove
I met Shakuni, in a foreign land
He was a seller of precious words.
I met Shakuni, in a foreign land
He was a seller of precious words
Sold “Dharma” duty and law combined
I met Shakuni, in a foreign land
Sold“Tarof” an Iranian word,
Meaning to refuse something of wishes
I met Shakuni, in a foreign land
He was a seller of precious words
==================================
Honorable Mention
Contest : The Troilet Movie scene of Andrea Dietrich
*Shakuni is a character in the Movie Ulzhan. Une Coproduction Franco-Germano-Kazakh.
*Shakuni is a villainous character in the Hindu Epic Mahabharata. Shakuni, a Sanskrit
word means a cheat, very skilled in playing dice.
He razzed Iran’s chieftain emir
Cotton's had his writing premiere
The paparazzi
Might call him a Nazi
But he's just a smart profiteer
Author's note: This young senator reminds me of someone who might have attended a Hitler youth camp. Fear is his opportunity. While he is strangely self-assured, he is on the same side of the nuclear negotiations as the Iranian hardliners. He doesn't go back and talk about the time the USA overthrew the democratically elected government of Iran and installed the brutal Shah. (Even if that information is critical to the relationship we now have with the Iranians.) If talks fail we know there will be a short term benefit to certain groups. Are you affiliated with them, Senator? Follow the $$$.
"Political power grows out of the barrel
of a gun" - Mao Zedong.
North Korea has nuclear;
current regime's fear
of falling out is clear.
China, Philippines, Japan,
and Taiwan all claim possession
of South China sea -
China claims it owns the sea
because it has the name China
on it.
Syrian warfare is like venom
of different animals mixed
together in a dark blender;
you can't tell who's ISIS, al-qaeda,
Hizbollah, Iranian agents,
Syrian rebels or Regime Forces.
A North Korean sub is missing in the sea;
no one knows what's next....
Russia and United States have differences
on how Syrian War should be handled.
Myriads of Syrian refugees cry at the gates
of Europe;
like Mary and Joseph in the Inn,
there's a few people letting them in.
Dalai Lama still cries for freedom
for the Tibetans.
Corruption still eats away economies
in African counties and national cakes.
Donald Trump wants an America
with no immigrants-
I think he's saying goodbye
to globalisation.
Boko Haram want to create a Caliphate
empire across West Africa.
Politics, the Grimm Reaper,
is here and listening!
PREAMBLE
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What I witnessed on October 7 was indefensible. Just to be clear, Hamas are not militants or freedom fighters as many in the mainstream media would have you believe - they are terrorists. Israel is not the ancestral homeland of the people who live in Gaza. These attacks were not an act of war or resistance but an act of evil. Call it out for what it is. Whatever your view is on these disputed territories there is no moral equivalence here. If you remain silent and do not condemn these actions by this despicable terrorist organisation then my moral calculus is very different to yours.
I
Trump cut off aid to Hamas for building
tunnels and missiles but Joetard gave it all back.
So the hostages of war have the American taxpayer
and President to thank for this unholy attack.
II
Trump sanctions froze Iranian assets
and Joe handed it all back for our enemies to use.
But now we watch the rockets' red glare over Israel
as Islamic butchers shout "death to the Jews!".
III
Trump signed Executive Order 13769
and built a wall to keep out crime, fear, and hate.
Sadly Joe ripped it up and tore it down but will God
save America from its sins before it's too late?
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Don’t you miss world peace and mean tweets! I do.
That is truth,
in England
all people have looked as polished talents and genius,
even a driver there
or porter, or steward,
or begger, or trader,
or stealer, or priest,
or head of ministry
do not work without great quality and service.
There is, seem, only one stupid man - mister Bean,
who prevailed all brilliant persons given together.
They are all have made themselves
as they want and planned
through successful work
and competition
in various branches and activities
of high improved community,
while the others unlucky
inhabitant of authoritarian countries,
post-soviet states
and Islamic caliphates
as the Iranian regime
that must proud only with Omar Hayam
in last millennium,
have had a very small portion
of really famous and respected men
or just intrinsic professionals.
And their waste majority
looks like as screws in clock,s engine,
or as soldiers in training camp of rebuilding empire,
or as religious fanats in Friday namaz
or as new slaves
in collective farm and weapon producing factories.
They have not any chances
for arise to personality
in terms of quality and standards
so usual for British community.
On the 16th of September 2022 Mahsa Amini 22 was arrested by the so called morality police in Iran, because some of her hair was showing from beneath her head scarf
3 days later she died in an Iranian hospital, after been beaten over the head with batons, whilst in morality police custody
A morality police spokesman denied responsibility, but said they must enforce this religious law because if women do not dress properly, then men could get provoked and harm them,
Women in Iran, and all over the world are now protesting against her murder, some hacking off their own hair, and refusing to wear head scarves.
An estimated 185 people women included, have died in Iran since the protests began after Mahsa’s death.
morality police
to overestimate her guilt ~ is to underestimate their filth
burnt her wings she can’t fly away ~ now her stumps make angels in the clay
By
David Kavanagh
(A Piece in Triplet Addressed to Dr Monir Táhá)*
Yes, we’re mountains, all together yet alone,
From foot to crown of rock and with hearts of stone.
Unmoved by all, moving none, we’re on our own.
To this song on the way of love that you hear
I’ve listened too for an age, year after year,
And have shed tears as from an arrow or spear.
I don’t beg for love now that I’m old and grey,
Melted away in solitude, but I say,
Like the waters, one by one we drift away.
1.31.’13
* The renowned Iranian lyricist and chairlady of the department of the Italian language & literature, University of Tehran, who used to stop on her way to stare at me for several bothering, lengthy minutes in the corridors in mid-1970s and who did something most abhorrent to me in an Italian course final exam; just to remind her how
Everything alters
And one by one we drop away
— Composed while still listening to “The Way of Love” by the late Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum which I listened to in solitude shedding tears when I was a teenager, and having in mind Matthew Arnold’s poem “To Marguerite — Continued”, W. B. Yeats’ poems “When You are Old” and “The Old Men Admiring Themselves in the Waters”, as well as a poem by the late Iranian poet Shámloo the title of which I can’t remember
No comments, please!
Pakistan is weeping now
weeping Burmese burnt dreams
weeping Cubans in Darfur
weeping Venezuelans
North Korea is weeping still
weeping Iranian uranium dream
weeping Chinese in Tibet
weeping Russians
the world wails
waning
and We sleep to dream