Planet of the Arts Volume 7 Issue4 page 4 I'm from Kashan and | live a fair life | have a piece of bread, some talent, a sense of humour; | have a mother better than a green leaf and friends truer than clear water my god is just around the corner in the bushes, under the tall pines I'm so religious a rose might be my Mecca a spring my altar the sun my candle the moon floats in my prayers, which are transparent, their particles crystallized my church is on the waterfront surrounded by daisies; it is sometimes like a breeze, travelling through gardens, through cities I'm from Kashan and I'm a painter sometimes | will paint a cage of colours to sell to you; but what for? | clearly know that my canvas is not alive that my painting ain't a pool of fish I'm from Kashan but my roots are from a plant in India from a pottery found in Saialk soil perhaps from a prostitute in Samarkand my dad died before | was aware of ‘time’ when he died, the sky turned blue my mom suddenly woke up and my sister turned beautiful our home was never on Knowledge Street it was at the crossroad of nature and feeling, where the image meets the mirror; our garden seemed an arch from the circle of happi- ness | used to chew god’s green plum in my dreams and drink the unlogical waters eat the unphiloshophical berries loneliness would sometimes press its face against the window and my thoughts would play; life was like a spring shower a tree full of birds a line of lights and dolls; life was a great hug of freedom a pool full of music; but the child tip-toed out of this Butterfly Alley: | packed my bags and left the city of dreams; with a heart missing the butterflies x ater. By Sohrab Sepehri | went away to the World Party to the fields of sorrow and to the gardens of Sufism; | went to the balcony of science, right to its edge and climbed the religious ladder to the end of Doubt Street; | met someone on the other side of love stared at the pleasure lights and listened to the pleasing silence; the flapping of lonely wings | saw so many things on Earth a kid sniffing the moon a ladder of love which led to the sky | watched a woman pounding light into a casserole for lunch her family eats bread, vegetables, and a hot bowl of kindness; : | saw a beggar asking for songbirds a hungry man praying to a melon skin a sheep eating a paper tiger; | saw a cow who understood the grass | held a book with crystal words and papers made of spring water; beside the bed of a dying master I’ve seen a vase full of questions a pony Carrying essays a camel with an empty basket of ‘to haves’ and ‘to have nots’ I've seen an airplane from thousands of feet below dust laying on its windows the City was spilt onto this Earth My mom was washing dishes in a river of memories; the city’s blood coursed through sewage veins and it grew geometrically with cement, steel, and stone, birdless roof of the buses; a cat drinking from the Caspian Sea on the map; on a clothesline hung a bra, shaking nervously the chariot’s wheel dreaming the horse to halt the horse dreaming the rider to release the rider dreaming himself into death conquer a century with a poem conquer a garden with a bird conquer the street with a ‘hi’ and a ‘hello’ conquer the city with three or four wooden horses death of the rattle on the dad’s afternoon bed death of a story in the sleeping street death of the moon under the neon light death of a pine prescribed by the City all of the Earth was alive logic, talking in the squares of Greece order, walking in the streets of Babylon | met light and dark; | met the plant in light the animal in light | met the human in dark the human in light I‘m from Kashan but my city has been lost; I've made a new home on the other side of the night; in my new house | feel close to muggy nature and can listen to my garden breathe; | can hear the sun coughing behind the trees spring waters sneezing through cracked stone RE —<— Planet of the Arts Volume 7 Issue 4 page 4 Footstens in Water tm from Kash and Ive afar life Ihave a piece of bread, some talent, a sense of, humour; have a mother better than a green leaf and friends truer than clear water ‘my god is just around the corner inthe bushes, under the tal pines I'm 30 religious a rose might be my Mecca ‘8 spring my altar the sun my candle the moon floats in my prayers, which are transparent, their particles crystallized my church ison the waterfront surrounded by daisies; is sometimes like a breeze, travelling through gardens, through cities {'m from Kashan and t'm a painter sometimes | will paint a cage of colours to sel to you; ‘but what for? I clearly know that my canvas isnot alive that my painting ain't a pool of fish ¥'m from Kashan, bbut my roots are from a plant in India from a pottery found in Saalk soil perhaps from a prostitute in Samarkand my dad died before | was aware of ‘time! ‘when he ded, the sky turned blue my mom suddenly woke up ‘and my sister turned beautiful ‘our home was never on Knowledge Street it was at the crossroad of nature and feeling, ‘where the image meets the mirror; ‘our garden seemed an arch from the circle of happi- {used to chew god's green plum in- my dreams and drink the unlogical waters ‘eat the unphiloshophical berries loneliness would sometimes press is face against the window ‘and my thoughts would play; life was lke a spring shower tree full of birds a line of lights and dolls; life was a great hug of freedom poo! full of musi; ‘but the child tip-toed out of this Butterfly Alley: ‘packed my bags and left the city of dreams; with a heart missing the butterflies 2a a By SobrabSepeh | went away to the World Party to the fields of sorrow and to the gardens of Sufism; | went to the balcony of science, right to its edge and climbed the religious ladder to the end of Doubt Street; |Imet someone on the other side of love stared at the pleasure lights and listened to the pleasing silence; the flapping of lonely wings | saw so many things on Earth kd sniffing the moon, 1a ladder of love which led to the sky watched a woman pounding light into a casserole for lunch her family eats bread, vegetables, and a hot bow of kindness; I saw a beggar asking for songbirds ‘a hungry man praying to a melon skin {a sheep eating a paper tiger; I saw a cow who understood the grass {held a book with crystal words and papers made of spring water; beside the bed of a dying master ve seen a vase full of questions ‘pony carrying essays a camel with an empty basket of ‘to haves’ and ‘to have nots! ve seen an airplane from thousands of feet below ‘dust laying on its windows the City was spilt onto this Earth My mom was washing dishes in a river of memories; the city’s blood coursed through sewage veins and it grew geometrically with cement, steel, and stone, birdless roof ofthe buses; cat drinking from the Caspian Sea on the map; ‘on a clothesline hung a bra, shaking nervously the chariots wheel dreaming the horse to halt the horse dreaming the rider to release the rider dreaming himself into death ‘conquer a century with a poem ‘conquer a garden with a bird ‘conquer the street with a‘hi’ and a ‘hello’ ‘conquer the city with three or four wooden horses ‘death ofthe rattle on the dad's afternoon bed, death ofa story in the sleeping street ‘death of the moon under the neon light