The only witness

For Rashid

Not the heaps of your love letters
in the velvet chest of memories;
Not the armful of flowers and fruits
you bring home in the evenings;
Not even the gold bracelet of 18 carats
you gave me on our wedding anniversary;
The only witness to your pure love,
this pale plastic bin heavy with rubbish,
which you carry down from the fourth floor, step-by-step,
refusing the help of my sleepy hands, night-by-night!

Farideh Hassanzadeh-Mostafi (Iran)

From World Poetry Almanac 2008, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia