Housewarming

        By Majid Naficy

        To Azad

In this unclean time
I am sitting next to an air cleaner
Which you have brought for me
As a housewarming gift.

It whizzes in the dark
Shedding a cold, blue light
Over the couches, tables
And carpet which you have renewed for me
And the walls which you have recently painted.

It tells of the night when your mother and I
Were camping in a grove
And you were sleeping in a cradle
Under a mesh cover
Next to a whizzing fire.

How could I know
That the Fire-Fairy, that night 
Would show you the place of gold!*

        November 25, 2020

* Refering to a Russian tale in which “The Fire-Fairy” Ognevushka-poskakushka reveals gold to a boy.