Three Poems on the February Revolution
By Majid Naficy
One:
Mullah or Human?
A black-turbaned mullah in my childhood
At the dining table of my sister’s wedding
Snatched the platter of chicken in the air
Put it in front of him and said:
“We descendents of the Prophet go for the chicken.”
Was he not the same person who at my youth
Stole our revolution
And silenced polyphony
To establish his bloody theocracy?
The hands rebel against clocks
From so much anachronism.
It is not long
That the monopoly of mullahs will fall,
Humanity will return to our dining table
And everyone will receive an equal share
From the platter of plenty.
Do not lose hope, my friend!
There is a saying from ancient times:
“How easy to become a mullah!
How hard to become a human!”
July 1st, 2014
Two:
Allahu Akbar Is the Slogan of Suppression
Allahu akbar is the slogan of ignorance.
Allahu akbar is the slogan of deception.
Allahu akbar is the slogan of suppression.
Thus said the people,
Who against a militia’s loudspeaker
Cannoning them with “allahu akbar”,
Shouted: “Rascal! Rascal!”
Thus said the people,
Who against the mullah leader
Calling them “stooges”,
Shouted: “Dictator! Dictator!”
Once, allahu akbar was the slogan of streets.
Once, allahu akbar was the slogan of rooftops.
Once, allahu akbar was the slogan of false hopes.
Slogans change.
Leaders change.
What remain are the people
Who take to the streets
In search of bread and freedom.
Thus said a poet
Crying for his homeland.*
January 3, 2018
* Referring to a video from recent demonstrations in Iran
Three:
Corpse of the Revolution
I do not wait for poetry
But go in search of it
Because my wings are broken
And I am left far from my nest
Where my sister
For the last few days
Has remained home with her granddaughter
Because air pollution
Doesn’t let her go to school;
Where my brother-in-law
For the last few days
Has remained in ICU
Because the sanction
Doesn’t let him find his heart medicine;
Where in the demonstrations
For the last few days
Thousands of people have been arrested
And hundreds have been shot;
Where the corpse of the Revolution
For the last forty years
Has remained on the shoulders of our people
And the earth does not accept it.
November 27, 2019
سه شعر در انقلاب بهمن
مجید نفیسی
یک:
ملا يا آدم؟
ملايِ سيادستاري در كودكيم
سر ميز شامِ عروسي خواهرم
قابِ مرغ را در هوا قاپيد
پيش خود گذاشت و گفت:
"ما سيدها كه مرغي هستيم."
آيا همو نبود كه در جوانيم
انقلابِ ما را ربود
و چندصدايي را خاموش كرد
تا ولايتِ خونين خود را بسازد؟
عقربه ها از اين همه نابهنگامي
بر ساعت ها مي شورند.
دور نيست آن زمان
كه انحصارِ ملايان براُفتد
آدميت به سفره بازگردد
و هر كس از سينيِ فراواني
سهمي برابر بگيرد.
نوميد مباش دوست من!
از قديم گفته اند:
"ملا شدن چه آسان
آدم شدن چه دشوار."
یکم ژوئيه دوهزاروچهارده
دو:
اللهاکبر, شعارِ سرکوب است
اللهاکبر شعارِ نادانیست.
اللهاکبر شعارِ نیرنگ است.
اللهاکبر شعارِ سرکوب است.
چنین گفتند مردمی
که در برابر بلندگوی بسیج
که آنها را به اللهاکبر بسته بود
فریاد زدند: "بیشرف! بیشرف!"
چنین گفتند مردمی
که در برابر ملای رهبُر
که آنها را "دستنشانده" خوانده بود
فریاد زدند: "خودکامه! خودکامه!"
یک روز اللهاکبر, شعارِ خیابانها بود.
یک روز اللهاکبر, شعارِ سرِبامها بود.
یک روز اللهاکبر, شعارِ امیدهای واهی بود.
شعارها عوض میشوند.
رهبرها عوض میشوند.
آنچه بهجا میماند مردمی هستند
که در جستجوی نان و آزادی به خیابان میآیند.
چنین گفت شاعری
که در غمِ وطن زار میزد.*
سوم ژانویه دوهزاروهژده
* در اشاره به صحنهای از تظاهرات اخیر در ایران
سه:
جسد انقلاب
در انتظار شعر نمینشینم
به جستجوی آن میروم
زیرا بالهایم شکسته
و از آشیان خود دور ماندهام
جایی که چند روز است خواهرم
با نوهاش در خانه مانده
زیرا آلودگی هوا نمیگذارد
به مدرسه رود،
جایی که چند روز است شوهرخواهرم
در بخش مراقبتهای ویژه مانده
زیرا تحریم نمیگذارد
دوای قلبش را بیابد،
جایی که چند روز است در تظاهرات
هزاران تن را گرفتهاند
و صدها تن را به گلوله بستهاند،
جایی که چهل سال است جسد انقلاب
روی دوش مردم ما مانده
و خاک آن را به خود نمیپذیرد.
بیستوهفتم نوامبر دوهزارونوزده
Fereidoun Farahanduz:
So sad yet true, beautiful and touching. Thanks.
Hamid Naficy:
Great message Majid jon, "keep hope alive" in face of suppression, divisiveness, revolutions, pandemics, environmental disasters.
Majid Jan, the title you chose for your three poems is:
سه شعر در انقلاب بهمن
Do you want it that way or should I change it to
سه شعر درباره انقلاب بهمن
Thanks JJ!
I think the word در is correct and sounds better than در باره ی .
Sa'di uses در in the titles of different chapters of his Golestan,
for example "در فضیلت خاموشی" or در عشق و جوانی.
as always, Majid
Ed Rosenthal:
Thank you. Really love your emphasis on history, and current reality.
Mehdy:
Beautiful and powerful poems.
Lillian Boraks Nemetz:
Dear Majid
Thank you for your powerful poems
That shine a light on people’s struggle
With dictatorship and injustice., for this is as true today as it was then, long ago
And even in a diminished form only last month . Power can illuminate the truth
And blind you to it as well .
Your loyal fan
Lillian
PS. my book of poems Out of the Dark has been published. I would love to send you a copy. There is a poem in it dedicated to you and there is another
My Persian poet no 2. How would like me to send it?