Salamander
We didn’t exist
When the mountains, plains and books
Were here
And that proud evergreen which
Will never bow for you

You didn’t exist
When the Zendeh Rud
Was whispering rhythms of sand
In the ears of poplar trees
Under Isfahan’s sunrise

We didn’t exist
When the salamanders
Were reviewing a new plan
For their eternity in this world

Now you and I are here
And they’re stoning us
In the streets of patience
With freedom verses in our head

We’re here
And they’re penetrating
The verses of humiliation
And death in our heads

We’re here
And they’re choking
Human rights rhythms
In their bloody fist

We’re here my beloved
And every day
The bodies of evergreens
And poplar trees pile up
In the Tigris River

And we never asked what
The Salamanders said

M. Badihian