Two Gravediggers
The day is sunny
After much rain.
I run on Venice beach
And know that
Another storm is coming.
At the pier
Water has clogged the tunnel.
I want to turn back
But hear someone say in English:
“Do me a favor.”
I jog in place and ask:
“What can I do for you?”
He raises his shovel,
Smiles and says in Persian:
“Are you Iranian?”
Then he shows me some empty gunny sacks.
I open one and say:
“Only one!
I just warmed up.”
I know that he fears the flood
And wants to barricade his home
Behind bags of sand.
He says:
“You live at Venice Beach--
Oblivious to life in the Valley.”
I put the fourth bag in his car.
He sells carpets in Westwood.
Why did he escape the Revolution?
Why did they take his estate?
Why does he want to return home?
I hold the eighth bag
He stops and dries his face.
Why did I join the Revolution?
Why did they execute my wife?
Why do I run marathons?
Three empty bags are still on the ground
He says: “That's enough.
The car is overloaded
And springs are sagging.”
With long shovels in our hands
We are like Shakespearean gravediggers*
Each in front of three riddles
Which can only be solved
By digging the Revolution.
Then we shake hands.
He says: “On my way home
I will buy your book of poems."
I say:
“It's called The Sorrow of the Border”
And I run.
Majid Naficy
February 14, 1992
* “Hamlet”: Act V, Scene I.
دو گورکَن
روز, آفتابی ست
پس از بارانهای بسیار.
من در ساحلِ ونیس می دوم
و می دانم که بار دیگر
توفانی در پیش است.
در بارانداز
آب, دهانه ی پل را گرفته.
می خواهم برگردم
که صدایی می شنوم:
"دوو می اِ فِیوِر!"*
می ایستم و درجازنان می پرسم:
"وات کَن آی دوو فور یو؟"*
بیلچه اش را بالا می بَرَد
و لبخندزنان می پرسد:
"ایرانی هستی؟"
آنگاه گونیهای خالی را نشان میدهد.
دهانه ی یکی را می گیرم
و می گویم: "فقط یکی!
تازه گرم شده ام."
می دانم که از سیلاب می ترسد
و می خواهد با گونیهای شن
برابرِ خانه اش سنگری بسازد.
می گوید: "در ونیس بیچ نشسته ای
و از وَلی خبر نداری."*
چارمین کیسه را در ماشین میگذارم.
در وِستوود فرشفروشی دارد.
چرا از انقلاب گریخته؟
چرا املاکش را گرفته اند؟
چرا میخواهد به وطن برگردد؟
دهانه ی گونی هشتم را میگیرم.
می ایستد و عرق صورتش را پاک میکند.
چرا به انقلاب پیوستم؟
چرا همسرم را تیرباران کردند؟
چرا در ماراتُن می دوم؟
سه گونی خالی هنوز روی زمین افتاده.
می گوید: "کافیست.
فنرهای ماشین خوابیده."
با بیلچه های دراز در دست
به گورکَنهای شکسپیری می مانیم*
هر یک در برابرِ سه چیستان
که تنها با نبشِ انقلاب
گشوده می شوند.
آنگاه با هم دست میدهیم.
می گوید: "سرِ راه
کتابِ شعرت را میخرم."
می گویم: "نامش
"اندوهِ مرز" است"
و می دوم.
مجید نفیسی
۱۴ فوریه ۱۹۹۲
* "لطفی به من بکن."
* "چکار میتوانم برایت بکنم؟"
* لُس آنجلس به دو بخشِ ساحلی, مانند ونیس و دره ای, مانند سَن فرناندو تقسیم می شود.
* "هملت", پدره ی پنجم, صحنهی یکم.
From an American writer: "Beautiful haunting poem! Thank you!
From an Iranian writer: " This is a beautiful poem, technically, free verse, a poetry without regular patterns of rhyme, meter or stanzas, tending to follow the rhythm of natural speech. I think the main strength of the poet, here, is choice of words, enabling him to sum up some crucial parts of our history in a short poem and that's great. The speaker is talking of a "sunny day" which means the possibility of seeing the things clearly, yet reminding us "much rains", implying the hard times, "storm is coming", predicting possible turmoil, "clogged tunnel", our difficulties in this transitional period of time, "fear of flood", fear of disaster, "to barricade his home", protecting one's own home or the country, "That's enough. The car is over loaded", no more pressure, "three riddles", questions of why joining revolution, why execution, why marathons. The "marathons", I think, refers to the rhythm of life in US, also alluding life in exile and "running after life", then "I run", does it mean that the speaker's running takes place in a travel, back in time, and now is coming back with "sorrow of the border" or this refers to the fact that 'return to home" is one of the questions, not answered yet, and the situation as defined is "marathons". To answer the three riddles the speaker before feeling sorrow says, " can only be solved by digging the revolution", is this "digging" an attempt to answer why joining revolution or it is alluding to bury the revolution? There is one clue in the poem, "We are like Shakespearean gravediggers".The title of the poem is "Two Gravediggers", too. We also have the exact address of the quote, in the footnote: Act 5, scene 1, and this takes us into a deeper level of interpretation: Hamlet and Horatio see two gravediggers, Hamlet asks one of them about to whom the grave belong, the gravedigger shows a skull, implying that it's a mass grave, although Ophelia is supposed to rest there, a noble woman. But why a noble woman must be buried in a mass grave? Is this related to the "sorrow of the border", as a matter of fact, the underlying concept of that scene suggests that there is a border line of a belief.”