Old Memories

I held on you
As long as I could
I whispered your name every morning
I revived your image every night
I tried hard
And yet you slipped away
One night I could not
Remember your face
One morning I could not
Whisper your name
Your face had faded away
Your name had faded away
Like writings in sand
Overtaken by never ending waves
I tried to mourn you
From when roosters crack the night
Until wild birds return home
After last feeding of the day
I wore a black shirt
It was an empty shell
I tried to weep
No tears fell down
My eyes were dry
My face was dry
I returned to my heart
You were no longer
You became a myth
To be told
In the winter of my days

Time

It is the time of joy
It is the time of sorrow
It is the time of self sacrifice
It is the time of selfishness
It is the time of martyrdom
It is the time of betrayal
It is the time of good
It is the time of evil
It is the time of laughter
It is the time of tears
It is the time of valor
It is the time of cowardice
It is the time of love
It is the time of hatred
It is the time of war
It is the time of peace
It is the time of contradictions
Throats are being slashed
In the name of faith
Parents are punished for
Their children’s sins
Virgins are sacrifice at the
Alters of false Gods
Prophets abandoned their flock
And God, tired and broken
Left heaven for simple life
In the mountain of dream land

Twilight Zone

It is a quiet road
Rough and un-shaven
Old trees hung over it
In the mist of October morning
A passerby, unshaven as the road itself
Stops at the corner to look back
A woman of faded beauty
From her porch is observing
The man, road and the mist
Her paled face is the dawn
Her empty look is the dusk
Standing still in frozen time
Waiting for the one who never
Will pass her porch again

My Brother Wolf

I can hear the howl of my brother wolf
Echoed in darkness of forest
From afar where God and angels
Mingle with all creatures
Away from man’s eyes
My brother wolf
Stands alone on the ridge
Of sky and earth
Rainbow of October mist
Extends from his tail to head
My brother wolf
Brings the rainbow
To forest and plain
A gift of heaven and mist
Extended from his tail to head
I salute you my brother wolf
For carrying the mist and light
Your coat is as shiny as God’s
Your eyes as fiery as God’s
Your loneliness as deep as man’s
I hear the howl of my brother wolf
In the emptiness of nights
In the emptiness of souls
I salute you my brother wolf
With my gratitude
With my heart

Summer of 2006

Summer soared in heat and drought
Many wild fires across the land and thought
News of Iraq’s war became more
A chronic phenomenon of pain and sore
* * * * *
Torture was legalized by Senate and House
One side of the isle played the other as cat does mouse
Boogeyman of Cold War has changed name
It is North Korea and Iran, but story remains the same
* * * * *
Gas price shot up like Old Faithful
Every day of this summer as a rule
Energy again became the subject of talks
Recommended for health, bicycle and long walks

Dead Man Club

I met a dead man yesterday
In the cafeteria where I had lunch
He was among his friends
All dead in their forties
He had mash potato, gravy, salad, chicken, and a piece of pie
He cleaned his plate and left
Onion of his salad behind
He believes raw onion will
Cause bad breath
Unacceptable by norms of the society
Dead man is a technician of highly
Specialized machinery, restricted to
Efficiency and no waste
He belongs to “Efficient Dead Man Club (EDMC)”
In his circle, all members of the “EDMC”
Believe only in well- synchronized
Tick-Tack, Tick-Tack, Tick-Tack, Tick-Tack

Traveler

You I remember in pages of my memory
Glimpse of the past, classics or contemporary
In red, blue and green with inner white
Blossom of the roses at my site
* * *
Echo of future to become soon
Rising high like a shining moon
Spreading your wings over world
Breeze of life, yet sharper than sword
* * *
Traveler of uncharted sea
Yet, pleasant and colorful like morning tea
Carved in my soul your intellect and wit
Goddess of grace, slim and fit

Red Bird

Yesterdays
I remember the red bird
In the freshness of a summer morning
Hanging over our fence
Supremacy of water lily
And the reflection of sky
In rain water of broken pot
Yesterdays
When clouds cried over my home in tears
I could see the vanishing ancient Gods
In vibration of rain bubbles
Swallowed by thirsty earth
Yesterdays
At the end of each autumn day
I chased the humming bird
To the end of rain bow
And in the shade of willow trees
I listened to whispers of falling leaves
In their journey to grass
And the songs of crickets
In summer nights
To say good night to palm tree
Before my eyes went to sleep
And good morning to sparrows
At the end of a starry night

Love

Love, the Godly gift of heaven
To give the earthly body to flame
Riding on the wings of wind
Over land of no name
* * *
A shooting star in night
Crossing the sky to unseen horizons
Depiction of immortal life
In colors of all seasons
* * *
Born from desire and chaos
It’s meant to be laughter and tear
Lifting the soul to new height
Bold and agile with no fear

Farm's Life

When grass converse with soil
In the silence of evening dew
Farmer returns home from his toil
To sleep, perhaps hour or two
* * *
It is a harsh life tilling the land
From morning until night
Planting seeds with rugged hands
Hoping for the rain to come in sight
* * *
Thinks the bald eagle, in the heat of summer day
Sitting on branches of a dead tree
Hard life should be if I say
Rooted in land and being free
* * *
When water converse with riverbed
In the valley of thousand rocks
Farmer’s kids are hungry and unfed
Meager and bony his live stocks
* * *
When morning star vanishes in mouth of day
And sun spreads her wing over farm
Farmer’s daughter looking for hay
So their cow comes to no harm
* * *
When winter brings chills and cold
And land and trees covered with snow and ice
Farmer worries what winter hold?
Or will last his grain and rice

Achilles and Hector

Whisperers of destruction are in rise
Different faces and one voice to be concise
They say “democracy”, but mean destruction
They say “freedom”, but mean obstruction
Rule of law is for the weak
Rigid as it sounds with no tweak
Strength defines the rules
Carrots for the ass, kick for mule
History is the wish of the victor
But at the end, death takes Achilles and Hector

Worship

I prayed to thou my lord
From the branches of willow tree
Hanging over my head, Damocles’ sword
Dare not, not ever been free
* * *
With sun rise, baptized I was, in light
Golden rays, blue sky
With sun set, upon me fell nights
Broken wing, tear and despair in my eyes
* * *
Climbing to mountaintop, kissing the morning star
Universe in my arms, floating Ark
Being with you, my lord, near and far
Blessed with love, no fear of dark

You and I

You were the hunter
I was the game
You crossed over
I stayed the same
You were the wind
I was the land
You were the rain
I was the sand
You were the light
I was the sky
You were the cloud
I dreamed of fly

Origin

I am from desert
Son of sand and wind
Sun and arid land
Conceived from toil and till
Sweat and unfinished life
I am the only one
And one of thousands
My mother, the seven sisters
Dwell in far galaxy
My father, the grimness of a broken land

Your Eyes

Ocean was lost in your eyes
Forest lost itself in your reflection
And a pair of skylarks built their nest in your chest
Long long time ago,
An arrow took me beyond blues and greens
To that forest
Long long time ago
Snow grabbed me
Rain carried me away
In deep and shallow rivers
Rivers ended into ocean
Ocean was lost in your eyes.

I exist

I exist
In glimpse of a shadowy morning,
The vibration of cricket’s wings
Flow of salty pearl between broken lines of your eyes
Barefoot,
I stand, half Man, half God,
Half full
Half empty
Half old
Half child
Half lost
Half aware
Wings of my love, extended from far-east to far-west
And the whole world
A dancing shadow
In palm of my hands
In the depth of my soul
My fiery heart

Earth and Sky

God created the Earth and the Sky
The darkness upon Land
From horizon,
Where sky touched the land
The line of eternal reds and greens,
Blues and yellows
I was created from the fire of your breast
In the depth of your eyes
In the clouds of your hair, golden falls, hanging willows
In extended moments of vanishing morning star
Between two Hellos
One So-long

In Your Name

Yesterday, when I had my annual checkup
Said to me my doctor
“You have arrhythmia”
Confused, asked I
“Arrhythmia”!
What is that?
Said he “Just irregular heart beat”
Oh!
Smiled I, closed lips left his office.
Poor Doctor,
He does not know better.
Oh my darling
The aspiration of Gods and Earth
My heart beats in your name
You,
The clouds in sky
Shadow on Earth
Breeze on the back of the leaves
When my heart whispers your name,
It beats fast, and stops when you do not pass over.
Between the whispers of the morning breeze and trees,
I hear your footsteps
When water flows in the fields
And cries the thirsty barley seed, starved peach tree,
Oh my darling,
My heart stops, listens to hear you
In the whispers of the singing breeze.

War

Tomorrow
When world opens eyes
Birds will not sing
Water will not flow
Trees will not blossom
Tomorrow
Dawn will not be born
Earth swallows its sons
Mountains crumble
And clouds will keep their tears to themselves
Tomorrow
Daughters of grass and meadows
Will be buried in their wedding gowns
Tomorrow
War drums will invite angel of death
The land of two rivers will lose sleep
Open land, burned to bone will cry
Tomorrow
New rivers will flow
New sons will be born
From fire and blood

Wall of Fire

I listened to a song called wall of fire
It meant to raise my spirit and desire
I sang along all nigh till dawn
I danced along with music of Pan
It was a crazy night, burning with fever
Running and roaring like a mad river
Jumping up and down like a jack rabbit
Out of my skin, out of my habit
Reaching to sky, grabbing the moon
Sharing it with trees, giving it to raccoon
Touching the stars, flying with the mocking bird
Roaming with breeze, running with the herd
All night I danced with that song
I felt happy and I felt young
Angels came down from heaven with rainbow in their hands
Giving it grass without any demands
Crickets were singing, competing with frogs
No one was in the field, but prairie dogs
I heard a voice from far
Mumbling words from distant star
Simple words for two legged creature
In colorful world of all feature
Live and let live, this is the rule
Life is precious, don’t be cruel

Sacred Word

We were promised the sacred “Word”
The word, not from man and not from Lord
The essence of death and life
Sharper than any sword and knife
Word of love and reason
Beyond the reach of any season
Word from within, word from beyond
Not from above and not from ground
We were promised the sacred “Word”
But “there is a price, if we can afford”
Toll is high, toll is terrible
Toll is punishment, toll is horrible
We agreed to the price, we accepted the toll
Punishment was intolerable, we forgot the “Word”

Song-1

Songs of my heart, songs of sorrow
Tears of my eyes, blood of tomorrow
* * *
Gloomy morning, gloomy night
Ugly darkness, no light in sight
* * *
A dancing daisy on the prairie
Magic of elves, music of fairies
* * *
Echo of cuckoo bird in the cloud
Pregnant clouds, crying load

Life

I am from desert
Son of sand and wind
Sun and arid land
Conceived from toil and till
Sweat and unfinished life
I am the only one
And one of thousands
My mother, the seven sisters
Dwell in far galaxy
My father, the grimness of a broken land

Nader Hozhabri
2006