Fictions Disguised as Autobiography
a gift God gave us, far better than
any offspring or sacrificial flesh.
This was a new, advanced way of giving,
since memory was part of Herself,
how She knows, and the parcel of it
we each get allows us to be, like Her,
wherever and whenever we once were.
***
Second in a series of, to my astonishment, theological poems. Here is the first of the series: Time is.
Hafez-e Shirazi (1326–1390) wrote the perfect adieu to 2016, which I have translated from Persian as “A Stand of Flowers”
Grieve not! Joseph who has gone astray
will find his way to Canaan.
Grieve not! From the cell where sorrows dwell
will spring a stand of flowers.
***
yusef gomgashteh baaz aayad beh kan’aan qam mikhur
kolbe-ye ahzaan shavad ruzi golestaan qam mikhur