vermillion
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vermillion
22-Jun-2008
"the bloodline of the roses has pledged me unto life"
(translation of this quote from forough is my own)*
and the white bathroom walls
were burgundy and crimson
red red red
the white bathroom walls
I never dreamed
it would splatter like a geyser
like the martyrs’ fountain
of mashad
that I once saw
in a book of photos
red red red
the waters of mashad
and then in the hospital
calm as a womb
they were white white white
the hospital walls
so I never thought
of those red bathroom walls
instead
I did crossword puzzles
it is good to exercise the mind in the hospital
it is best not to think at all
and I never dreamed
walls could be so white
and i never dreamed
life could be so death
every day
rolling into the next
like an endless stream without stones
and I never dreamed
one could live without time
empty and still
as a zen master
timeless and empty as time
and the empty food
and the doctors empty
and the bandages empty
and the white walls empty
and me too empty
white as a japanese funeral
and then somehow suddenly
I’d have to rush to the bathroom
and close the white door
that had no knobs
and whack myself off silly
imagining you
the you you’d never shown me
the you I’d never known
opening places in me
where I’d never gone before
and I never dreamed
how blue imagination
and crimson desire
could become so enflamed
within four white walls
of nothingness
and then I’d return to my crossword puzzles.
She was only thirty two
when she crashed into the wall
it was burgundy and red
on the car and the wall
she was crimson and vermillion
like a briiliant bird
she was not black like the crow of najaf
and
there were only thirty birds
but they all made one large bird
and then the large bird’s reflection
so that makes thirty two
and jesus too they say
was about thirty three
(so that's close enough)
when he was burgundy wine on the cross
what is it about that number
well I’m no martyr
although I tried
I’m no mashad
and I’m no jesus either
but I think one day
i just may find the simorgh
the vermillion heart of simorgh
(I think I am in love with that number)
it had been calm as a white womb
within the hospital walls
white as a japanese funeral
timeless and empty as time
and I never dreamed
I would emerge so crimson
into the first kiss of wind
into the traffic honking
and all the people hurrying
and all the brilliant lights
and colors
colors everywhere
streams filled with multicolored stones
bright bright blue
oh waters of life
it is the bloodline of the roses
that has made me so crimson
it is fire and flame
that has pledged me unto life
life life life
vermillion
________________________
*Here is the link to my translation of one of Forough's last poems, Tanhaa Sedaast keh Mimoonad, in my opinion her greatest, though not most well-known, work, from which the quote under the title of my poem is taken:
//iranian.com/main/2007/forough-and-me
Jamshid provided the original Persian in the thread under that translation.
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.
by Natalia Alvarado-Alvarez on Sun Jul 06, 2008 09:35 PM PDT.
How do I do it?
by Natalia Alvarado-Alvarez on Sun Jun 29, 2008 12:13 AM PDTWell, a long time ago, someone told me the following "fake it till you make it" and "keep putting one foot in front of the other .......one day it will be okay". Did it work? I really did not have a choice.
Smile
Solh va Doosti
Natalia
N.,
by Rosie T. on Mon Jun 23, 2008 09:37 AM PDT"He" apears tp be a she.
But enough for now. I'm tired.
Sorry..
by hey (question?) (not verified) on Mon Jun 23, 2008 05:06 AM PDTI am sorry my friend, it is my mistake... Sometimes I read fast, consequently missing some part. Anyhow your poem or interpretation is very beautiful...
I love "Negah kon" by Forough, here is the Audio:
"> Negah kon
PS – My second first name is Forough, I never like it... but I think it is very beautiful on Forogh Farokhzad…
Well at least he was still talking to you
by Natalia Alvarado-Alvarez on Mon Jun 23, 2008 08:22 AM PDTNow, that you have sent him to exterminate himself, he may not chat for a while.
If anyone understands the depths of despair, it is the Translator.
Solh va Doosti
Natalia
No translator sorry no employment with the UN for you:
by Rosie T. on Sun Aug 03, 2008 09:40 AM PDTNo Translator, I'm so sorry but it seems the UN won't be hiring you any time soon.
But here's a little hint: read the first lines verry very carefully. they're descriptive..
Rosie Tozih
Explanation of Text
T
by woman (not verified) on Mon Jun 23, 2008 12:39 AM PDTSo you read about that pain...
Dear Rosie,
by Translator (not verified) on Mon Jun 23, 2008 12:00 AM PDTYou know what it is. It's the translation of the first part of your poem.
As the 'woman' said:
"I am so sorry you were hurt so much
people call it water under the bridge
but, at times in the dark of the night
when the leaves whisper outside my window
and the night is still
the pain returns to my heart
and lingers"
I see that the Translator is at it again
by Natalia Alvarado-Alvarez on Sun Jun 22, 2008 11:53 PM PDTHe strikes again. Do you have any idea, what he is saying? Can you send him an e-mail and ask him what is up with him? I wish that he would find a girlfriend already.
Robin,
I think the references that you provided are more than adequate in clarifying matters for the readers.
Solh va Doosti
Natalia
ohhahahahahhhohohohhhhoheeheeheeheehee!!!
by Rosie T. on Sun Jun 22, 2008 10:54 PM PDToh you mean attila the hound?
Honey bunny it's been soooooooooo since long i left my beloved Persian language behind because of that OTHER Barney
that I don't even know if I can READ that line anymore......
ah well maybe I'll get lucky by my TENTH Iranian lover...this was only #4..................
شنگرف
Translator (not verified)Sun Jun 22, 2008 10:47 PM PDT
*
و دیوارهای سفید حمام
یاقوتی و شاه توتی
سرخ سرخ سرخ
دیوارهای سفید حمام
و من هرگز در خواب ندیدم
که پخش خواهد شد مثل یک آبفشان
مثل فواره شهیدان مشهد
که یک بار دیدم
در کتابی از عکسها
سرخ سرخ سرخ
آبهای مشهد
I only meant......
by Natalia Alvarado-Alvarez on Sun Jun 22, 2008 09:47 PM PDTI only meant the following line
"the bloodline of the roses has pledged me unto life"
I know the difficulty of translating an English poem into Farsi. Remember my poem "Set Free"? It took several months and the collaboration of three different Iranians to do so.
Solh va Doosti
Natalia
PS: It was a good idea to provide the link to the poem in Farsi. It will help them understand better. What about being tortured with Barney?
Bunny Cake, I could not translate this poem into Persian if I
by Rosie T. on Sun Jun 22, 2008 09:30 PM PDTwere threatened with all the tortures of Abu Ghraib. It's hard enough to translate a poem anyway, I mean like REALLY REALLY hard, but for ME to translte THIS inot PERSIAN is.....a pipe dream....
They will just have to do their best and if they don't understand something they can ask me. as the poster did below, and I will happy to help them.
Always the educator,
Rosie LOL
Robin........perhaps
by Natalia Alvarado-Alvarez on Sun Jun 22, 2008 09:18 PM PDTPerhaps you may want to write in Farsi what you translated. It will provide clarity for those who read your original poem.
I don't require an explanation of your poem because I know you.
Solh va Doosti
Natalia
NO NO NO THE QUOTE IS MY TRANSLATION FROM FF!
by Rosie T. on Sun Jun 22, 2008 09:13 PM PDTTHE POEM IS MINE MINE MINE ALONE!!! LOL!
see my translation of one of Forough's last poems here. I am the only person who has translated the ending this way, "the bloodline of the roses" and people who know the poem in Persian agree that it's really the best one ever.
Thank you. I will clarify immediately.
Rosie Tozih
Explanation of Translations
PS Are crossword puzzles popular in Persian? teehee
Rosie jan,
by question? (not verified) on Sun Jun 22, 2008 09:00 PM PDTThis is a very nice translation. Thank you!
What is the poem's original name in Farsi?