My American Love
        Thirty-Two Poems for Wendy

Twenty-Seven.
George Habash Sandwich

        By Majid Naficy

We returned from a Trump protest
And wanted to walk in Golden Gate Park.
We stopped at a sandwich shop
Which smelled like Tehran.

Wendy said, “He looks Iranian.
His name is David Habash.”
I said,  “No” and asked, “Where are you from?”
He said, “My grandfather came from Jerusalem
And this shop belonged to him.”

Then, guess what we said and heard.
He told me about his Uncle George
And I told him about my late friend, Hossein
Who after the Siahkal Raid*
Went to Dubai from Iran
To join the Palestinian Movement.

David gave me a big sandwich
Which was like a casket.
I said, “One day
We will bury our dead”
And we left.

We sat in the park
Biting into our sandwiches.
They were sweet and spicy
And, as with Iranian sandwiches,
Full of pickles.

        February 20, 2019 

*On February 8, 1971, a group of young guerrillas attacked the gendarmerie post in the town of Siahkal near Caspian Sea. It was the beginning of Armed Struggle in Iran.