Forgive me if I shed tears
* * *
Forgive me if when these days return to us… you see that tear-drops on my eyelid lie
But you can’t understand what my eyes see… each time they see her, I feel my heart die
I see her crushed between the door and wall… each time my eyelids close and crush my eye
And as blood flows from the chest of Zahra… my tears flow to soothe the pain of my eye
* * *
Forgive me if when day reaches the sky… and I see her days on the horizon
I hold onto my chest in agony… as if the rib in my chest is broken
As if I’m crushed between a door and wall… gasping for air as the door would tighten
With the pain of a nail in my chest… holding my scream because I’m a woman
* * *
Forgive me if I act like an orphan… crying out for the help of her father
Holding my scarf like I’m holding my soul… so it doesn’t get burned by the fire
I sit with my hands defending my face… wondering if this man has a daughter
As the devil’s hand slaps the purest face… and chains are put on the hands of Haider
* * *
Forgive me if when I see black cloth… my hand holds my heart, feeling a darkness
As if there is a gap deep in my heart… as if I have lost something so precious
As if I’m a mother who lost her son… and you see me holding him in sadness
Looking at someone too young to be born… too young to see his mother in distress
* * *
If these days I dress in black, forgive me… if I cry when I serve, recite or cook
If I’m serving and I collapse in tears… as if my soul the angel of death took
If the picture of Fatima Zahra… you see in my eyes whenever you look
But the fire of her house burnt my face… and by the push of the door I was shook
* * *
(Los Angeles – 16/01/14)