Poem.28 The Haunted Token of Love

The Haunted Token of Love

A little delicate miracle

Moving, giggling, laughing

Its little fingers

Rise in the air

To catch the unknown

To feel the intangible

Its little curious eyes roll

And glow sometimes

As if he had seen

The invisible

Pretty little smiles

Appear on his face

As if an angel

Has descended to cuddle

Its soft body

In its divine embrace

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O my little angel

How cute you look!

How pretty, how innocent

Those looks are!

You cannot see me

So what’s that which makes you

Smile? Stretch your little arms?

Giggle as if you have seen

A wonder?

How I long for your warm breath

How I miss your sweet voice

Yet all that I can have

Is these cherished moments

Of sorrow and joy

Bestowed on my by the

Almighty

To imagine I can hear the sweet

Melodies of your voice

To imagine I can feel the soft petals

Of your face

And wet them with my dewy tears

To imagine I can sing lullabies

For you to take you into dreams

Where you can know

That there is someone here

Who sees, who cares, who loves…

Farshid Rezaee

Poem.27 Nagi Tanka

Nagi Tanka

( The following is a tribute to all Native Americans. Please check the footnotes for unfamiliar words which are taken from language of Lakota)

A lonely man riding a tashunke

Toward the anapo

Where the yellow-gowned prince

Rises majestically

With an army of golden spears

Aimed at desert’s sandy heart

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The ozuye ohitika cries out:

He-ay-hee-ee

He-ay-hee-ee

And dances the can wakan

Esnella

---------------------

Little naughty miracles

Come out of tepees

Cinks-cunks

To welcome me,

Eyes twinkling

With hope, with fear…

--------------------------

Le mita sunkaku, le mita cola, le mita tahunsa

Oo-oohey

Happo happo

And we rush with our mila hansaka

To hunt the tatanka

Under blue sky

Where cetan flies

---------------------------

Ocheti of us

Men with pahaska

Adorned with wanbli’s niyaha

Ride like wakina on burning sands

-----------------

It’s noon

And the lunchtime

Our tepees are filled with le mita colapi

Dancing flames

Siyotanka’s melody

Joy and laughter

All is skuyela

Can this last ohinyan?

-------------------------

Owanka wakan is shaking

Nituwe he?

Traces of worry

On my tunkasila and unci’s faces

The wasichu

Mahpuya shrouds

The sky

--------------------

-Hohahe

-Miyelo ca kola!

-Should I believe that?

-My friends will be here anytime

To be your guests!

Mind is drowned in doubt’s lagoon

----------------------------

Yellow prince is wounded

His bleeding chest

Disappears into horizon

Haho! Haho!

The white are coming

A black wickmunke

--------------------------

O wakan tanka

I ask for peace

I beg for love

Is that much to have?

-------------------------

Tepees are glowing?

Or greedy flames

Have found their victims?

This is wicoti mitawa

------------------------

Wahi, wahi

He-ay hee-ee

He-ay-hee-ee

Nagi tanka

Raise my spirit…

-----------------------

O cherished land

Oh burnt tepees

Smokes, ashes, cries

Blind the eyes, deafen ears

Hecheto aloe…

Footnotes

1. Nagi Tanka: Great Spirit

2. Tashunke : Horse

3. Anapo: The Dawn

4. Ozuye: Warrior

5. Ohitika: Brave

6. He-ay-hee-ee: A call to the Great Spirit

7. Can Wakan: Sun dance

8. Esnella: A loner

9. Tepees: Native American Tents

10. Cinks: My son

11. Cunks: My daughter

12. Le mita sunkaku: My younger brother

13. Le mita cola: My friend

14. Le mita tahunsa: My cousin

15. Oo-oohey: It is time

16. Happo: Let’s go

17. Mila hansaka: Long knives

18. Tatanka: Buffalo bull

19. Cetan: Hawk

20. Ocheti: Seven

21. Pahaska: Long hair

22. Wanbli: Eagle

23. Niyaha: Feather

24. Wakina: Thunder

25. Le mita colapi: My friends

26. Siyotanka: A kind of flute made of cedar wood

27. Skuyela: sweet

28. Ohinyan: forever

29. Owanka wakan: Sacred Altar

30. Nituwe he? : Who are you?

31. Tunkasila: Grandfather

32. Unci: Grandmother

33. Wasichu: White man

34. Mahpuya: Cloud

35. Hohahe: Welcome

36. Miyelo ca kola: I am friend

37. Haho: Look at this

38. Wickmunke: Trap

39. Wakan tanka: God

40. Wicoti mitawa: My village

41. Wahi: I am coming

42. Hecheto aloe: It is finished

Poem.26 Borders

B---o---r---d---e---r---s

Lines, lines everywhere

Breaking bonds

Of humanity

Of love

Of friendship

Lines drawn in black

Lines drawn in hate

Signals of

National pride

Or selfish possessions?

Lines drawn in blood

Lines for men to die for

Lines seeing lovers part

Lines watching a mother’s

Desperate look

At the son who might not

Return…

Drawing lines will not help

To ease the pain

To feed the poor

To sow the love

To reap smiles

When can we have

Time with no lines

Time with no mine

Time with no yours

Time with just ours….?

Poem.25 The Snowman

The Snowman

There

I can see

An icy figure

Short and plump

Is standing, brooding

Alone, proud and pleased

His coaly eyes wink at me

His carrot nose stiff in the air

His cold cruel gaze upon me

Threatening me with harsh

Freezing breezes of his

Lungs, his hands

Cannot be seen

May be in his

Hidden pockets,

Devising some evil

Malicious scheme to grab

My fragile soul, vulnerable as

A delicate rose in tornado’s embrace

I cannot see its feet, perhaps hidden in the

Earth, digging a trap or a hole to bury my flesh

Now bereft of breath, or pounding the snow beneath

Reminding me of the fleeting moments which pass by

To bring that dreadful scene, hailing me with the icy

Arrows, wound me with frozen spears, crucify me

On the snowy cross, and I, deafened by creepy

Howling of wolfish fluffy flakes, burning

With the faintest flames of desire for life,

Take the dying torch and rush to see

The last drops of the melting snowman

Poem.24 Velvet Empire of Love

Velvet Empire of Love

Sun is on its deathbed

Bleeding, melting

Black velvet Empire

Stretching kingdom of darkness

On the azure bosom

Moonbathing shadows

Lie in every corner

Waiting for passersby

Hurrying home

Desperate for few cherished

Crystal moments

With loved ones

Fluffy little pillows

Come down

Swinging on the wind’s cradle

To rest on shoulders

Of weary men

By the fire

Rainbow of glowing lights

Adorn the wooden arms

Of evergreen trees

Dancing flames of warmth,

Neatly tied boxes

Waiting for the moment

To unfold their kind secrets

Hidden in their heart

To charm every innocent face

With the miracle of smile

Silver moonbeams descend,

Graceful dancing damsels

In the dark hall

Tapping feet tuned to

Sad melodies of lullabies

Sung to take little angels

To the cuddly embrace

Of dreams…

Farshid Rezaee

Poem.23 The Black Figure

The Black Figure

A black figure is there,

Leaning against the wall,

Grinning, gnawing on my soul

It looks familiar, yet I know it not.

It rises every morning like a nightmarish phantom

Follows me everywhere, always

He steps into darkest corners of my mind

Treading on my memories

Branding its bitter mark upon every spot

Clearing its throat, starting to murmur

That terrible song, that horrible theme:

“Oh thou glorious creature!

Where thou shall flee?”

To stars? I will be the night

To the depth of sea? I will be the whirlpool

To Sun? I will be the clouds

To jungle? I will be the vulture

To desert? I will be the scorpion

His venomous roaring laughter

Delves into every vein

Crushes every cell

Breaks every joint

The black figure is there

Leaning against the wall,

Grinning, gnawing on my soul

And I

Desperately wait for the moment

When it crawls forward

To entangle my limbs

In its crooked palms

But is there a black figure?

Farshid Rezaee

Poem.22 Stony Graves Are Ahead

Stony tombs are ahead

Stony tombs are ahead

Monuments of bygone days

Each with its own secret

Ready to unfold

Carved on a marble grave

Words charged with sorrow:

“Here lies a lover”

“One who loved and lost”

“One whose heart ceased to beat”

“One whose love ceased to die”

Carved on a black grave

Words of gloom and horror:

“Here lies a man”

“Here lies a beast”

“One who knew not love”

“One who burnt in lust”

“Who stained beauty”

“Who slew virtue”

“One who died in pain”

“One who lived in vain”

Carved on a silver grave

Words of sweet nature:

“Here lies a girl”

“Here lies an angel”

“One who loved, was loved”

“One delved in purity”

“One not matched in beauty”

“One whose lover died”

“One who lost her innocence”

“One who killed her love”

“One who knew not loyalty"

Farshid Rezaee

Poem.21 Miracles

Miracles

A man, a woman, a restaurant

A look, a smile, a word

A sentence, another, a chat

A minute, an hour, a moment

A wave of hand, another, farewell

A walk, a house, a dream

A longing, a feeling, a gap

A call, a date, an ideal

A rose, a ring, a question

A yes, a no, a choice

A drop, a smile, a nod

A party, a kiss, a toast

A month, a fire, a storm

A year, a bed, a home

A couple, a child, a family

A word, another, a fight

A glass, a plate, a shout

A drop, another, a wet pillow

A moment, another, farewell

A moment, another, nothing...

Farshid Rezaee

Poem.20 It's Raining in My Mind

It’s raining in my mind

Clouds of inspiration cover

The bright sky of mind

Winds of rhythm blow to join

The clouds in a thunderous wedlock

Drops of words shower

On the fertile land of imagination

The seeds of thought grow

To become the green blossoming tree of poetry

And then through the diamond prism of heart

Rainbows of meaning and beauty

Clear the sky for the soul to fly

To eternity…

Farshid Rezaee