Tag Archive | Iran

21 days

Aug20

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His last time on WhatsApp was

2022-07-30, 4:15 pm Montreal time

21 days have gone by and his fate is not clear yet

His family knows little of what’s going on 

His friends worry for him daily

How will the authorities collect

Evidence of espionage when there is none?

Another arrest!

Was ten years in prison not enough?

And for crimes he did not commit?

For loving humanity?

For serving his community?

I talked to him the day before he was arrested

He was well

He was thankful

He was jovial as usual

We pray for him 

For fortitude and strength

Qualities he has in abundance already

I know he welcomes this sacrifice 

As he did the previous ones

I know he is grateful to stand up 

For what he believes in

I know he is victorious 

Whether in captivity or freedom

August 20th, 2022

For my dear friend, Afif Naimi

What keeps you going?

Aug6


9E0B931C-6141-49EE-9408-29B540072B31What keeps you going in the face of injustice?

My spirituality he said

I believe in karma

That we reap what we sow

That there will be justice in the end

What keeps you going, he asked

Hope that the future will be brighter 

That what we do to better the world matters

What keeps you going, he asked

Love for my fellow man

Belief in goodness and truthfulness 

That living a virtuous life is important 

No matter what life throws at you 

What keeps you going, he asked

Faith in a higher power, he said 

August 4th 2022

 

Dedicated to my dear friend Afif Naimi who was recently arrested in Iran because he is a Baha’i 

Uprising

Aug1

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For my brothers and sisters in Iran:

A people demanding justice

Demanding free speech

Demanding the ability to buy the basic necessities of life

Demanding better environmental policies

Their voices are loud

They can be heard in all the different corners of Iran

From Khuzestan, to Tabriz to Tehran

They are united

Their demands are clear

They don’t fear retribution

They demonstrate peacefully

Will this time the results be different?

Will they reach their goals?

Mothers whose sons died in the path of freedom and reform

Women who are tired of being told what to wear

And how to live their lives

Youth who are educated but can’t find work

Workers that haven’t been paid in months

Farmers who are suffering due to drought

Brought about by bad decisions of the leaders in the past

Parents who don’t see a bright future for their children

They are all raising their voices again

These are people who will not stay silent any longer

After all they don’t have much to lose

The near future will show the results of their efforts

May freedom and justice be their reward

August 1st, 2021

Dark clouds

Nov23

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The cold and damp winds of fall are blowing

I feel the cold in my bones

The dark clouds are shedding tears of sorrow

The exuberance of summer is gone

The world seems unfair sometimes

Goodness is not returned with good

Enmity seems to have the upper hand

As a pandemic ravages the world

I still believe in goodness

I think the good will be victorious

Sometimes it doesn’t look like that

But there is more to our lives than what we see

Goodness resides in the heart

It will be with us forever

Goodness perfumes the world

And cheers other people’s hearts

Injustice is like a cold dark night

But this dark night will eventually give way to dawn

Injustice can’t take goodness away

Injustice is due to the absence of love

November 23rd, 2020

Dedicated to the Baha’is of Iran

O Canada

Jul1

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O Canada

My home after my homeland

O Canada

Where I spread my wings

O Canada

Our refuge during frightening times

O Canada

Freedom, your gift to us

When people ask me where I’m from

I always say Iran

That bond is secure

And will be for the years to come

But you became a safe haven for us

A place where we could live and thrive

 

O Canada

You are not perfect

No country is

You mistreated the natives of this land

You are warm hearted and welcoming

But issues of race and justice remain

O Canada

You need time to grow and become more mature

You’ll need all your inhabitants for this growth
O Canada

A beacon of hope in this world of ours

O Canada

Where many nationalities reside side by side

July 1st, 2020

Angel of hope

Jan11

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Hope is an angel bathed in light

That comes to my dream at night

Hope is a single dandelion 

That has withstood the ravages of winter

Hope is in people coming together 

To mourn what has been lost 

Hope is in the light of the candles burning

Remembering those who are gone 

Hope is in the solidarity we feel

With each other no matter where we come from

Hope is in truth overcoming falsehood

In justice being served in due time

Hope is sometimes hard to find

It may be as rare as the dandelion on the path

But it’s there

Sometimes we need to search for it harder and longer

But it’s there

Hope never dies

 

January 11th, 2020

Early mornings

Oct27

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It’s early in the morning

It’s pitch black outside

The rest of the household is sleeping

But I’m wide awake

 

I pick up my phone 

To see what my friends are up to

Their days have already started

They are awake

 

I talk to my friends in Europe

I talk to my friends in Iran

We talk about history

We talk about art

 

In this part of the world

My friends are still sleeping

But with the magic of technology 

I’m in conversation with those who are not

 

October 26th, 2019

Prayer beads

Feb2

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Prayer beads 

Made of warm brown wood

The tassel, a fiery red

Lie in front of me on my footstool 

Prayer beads

Take me back to Iran

The country I come from

Held in the hands of a holy one in a photograph

Held in the hands of the merchant at the bazaar as he sells his wares

Held in the hand of the Sufi sage as he moves the beads with his fingers like he has done a thousand times 

Prayer beads

Come in all colors and forms

Made of wood or glass or stone 

Prayer beads

Are sacred to me

They connect us to our creator 

 

2 February 2019

Dancing street

Feb21

 

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Dancing street is
Where I lived at in Shiraz

It was actually called
Ghasr’u’dast
The palace in the meadow
But we called it Raghs’u’dasht
The dancing street
As a tribute to the multitude
Of potholes that made us dance

It was a long narrow street
That led out of Shiraz
To the tiny town called Ghasr’u’dasht

There, at the end of a
Dead-end street
Called Zargary, the Goldsmith
My father built a house
Which seemed like a palace to me

It had many rooms
And a huge back yard
A large garage
And a multi-coloured gate
At the front

We had many dinner parties
And house-guests
My mother made meals fit
For a king
And we entertained a lot

We had guests from Tehran
The US and Africa
Some were relatives
Some were friends
And some were Baha’is from abroad

I remember walking and singing
In the grassy area of the back yard

And playing with the weeping willows
As I sang songs

This was my childhood home
Until we left Iran
It was off the dancing street
Outside Shiraz

My bracelets

Jan12

 

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My bracelets
Gold
Round
Shiny

My bracelets
My connection to Iran
My connection to my childhood
My constant companions
Jewelry I got from my mom

They let you know when I’m near
They jingle as I move
My kids have played with them
When they were young

They have stayed with me
Throughout the years
Through the good and the hard times

I buy other bracelets
Thinking I’ll wear them sometime
But my golden bracelets
Are the ones that are constantly
On my arms

January 11th, 2018