MOHSEN EMADI

from The Poem

VII.

In my language

every time everybody suddenly falls silent,

a policeman is born.

In my language

on the back of each frightened bicycle,

three thousand dead words are sitting.

In my language,

in murmurs, they make confessions,

in whispers, they wear black,

in silence,

they get buried.

My language is silence.

Who will translate my silence?

How can I cross this border?

Translated from Persian by Lyn Coffin