ETERNAL

ETERNAL

I dream sometimes
of my father in our last call.
He said, “I was waiting for you.”
And I was delighted
for calling in time,
though it was our farewell
which was short
but long as eternity:

eternal like the frequently wet roofs
and humid days of Shahi,*
eternal like farmers
who plow in order to sow seeds
and loosen and harrow the soil

each spring.

SEPIDEH ZAMANI, IRAN
March 10, 2012, Maryland
*Shahi: a city in Mazandaran Province, Iran