Farideh Pourgiv

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Sheida Mohamadi
translated by Dr. Farideh Pourgiv
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I Look at Istanbul with Drunken Ears

This road has been intentionally brought here with the blue bus      
       with the strange crowd of pigeons
And the impatience of the shirt and the skirt and the boots
Something has happened in the mirror                     what is the matter with you Istanbul?
You have put on somebody and this is the scent of the beloved from your shoulders  
   the scent of earth and geraniums
The evaporating colourful scent. 
O, City with the eyes of the sea and colourful waves
Beyond the vapour in your back, walls of swear words and love letters
What is the matter with you Istanbul?
Where are we going with my feet of bronze in the middle of the night?
With these sweet smelling dead offering tea and cigarettes                   
  why are we sitting here?
I want to make love to this stone man under the rain, o city
To sing barefoot to Bokhara, to listen to the body of the poplars
The air is an orchard of mint tonight
Do you hear?
- Your health            your health! 
How sweet is being in love
These extravagant hands        these shops
The whirling Snow           pomegranate blossoms
Storks in water
And in shirts        shadow of a dark dance.
How did you find this room?
I turned into music with the scent of this bed and this quilt, did you know?
With the noise of these windows we laughed deeply   …. with you.
O, city, I know the scratching of this line
These singing umbrellas
Something has happened to me with these clouds!
My eyes cannot say Istanbul
My hands cannot …

Istanbul 25 November 2010

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Farideh Pourgiv is Professor of English Literature in the Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Shiraz University, Iran where she teaches BA, MA and PhD courses in fiction, poetry and drama. She is the editor of Persian Literary Studies Journal.  Areas of interest and research:  Modern English literature,Women’s Studies, Children’s Literature, comparative literature. Correspondence to: Prof.  F. Pourgiv, Dept. of Foreign Languages & Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.  

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