Speaking of Forty Days Forty days of dry river beds. If a fish can not jump over a camel and when a voice returns For every morning drop to come When gales of laughter If a fish can not jump over a camel, When drizzle like sprinkled titters and fall and fall In mocking guffaws, The sea is nourished. Let every voice be moved to sing —Douglas Gilbert
Dry silence there.
floods will come
past mourning cleanse
the hump of struggle will be passed.
a prayer will rain in tickling voice, and
chortles will fade
all pings into ding-dongs.
blow naked clergy down
rain will come.
rain will come.
spreads into dry cracks,
a wicked reign shall fall
the floods will come.
The green will flourish.
the rain will come
Books by Douglas Gilbert
Archive for July, 2009
Poem about Iran by Douglas Gilbert , “Speaking of Forty Days”
Poems about Iran by Douglas Gilbert “Waiting For A Song”
Waiting For A Song So many silences in Iran. Came for an avian concert thirty birds All the birds Came for an avian concert the dog’s howling seems the birds have lost concert canceled I carried a feather home to compose, —Douglas Gilbert
Even birds have omens.
on a walk
on a lark, but
pecked at a dog
who whimpered
then chirped.
growled at me,
barked like Basiji.
for a song, but
was off-key
and the birds
dropped sticks
on the wires of a fence
like a dulcimer.
their concert master,
imitate predators.
in a breeze
to wait for the rain, and
the thunder of the people
Short Poems by Douglas Gilbert, “Ambiguity”
Ambiguity Toddling onto the battlefield What am I to do with my loyalties —Douglas Gilbert
a child walks for the first time
steadied by the ramparts
when my friends kill her
Natalya
Healing for Natalya Estemirova Russian and Chechen thugs, Torturing for power Ref: New York Times,”Fearless in a Land of Thugs, to the Point of Death”,by C.J.Chivers, July 18,2009, pp.1, A5 —Douglas Gilbert
why would you not heel to truth? If
you had only seen the heels
and lips, the healing reporter
skirting lies, flirting with
tiny remnants of your humanity
cajoling for compassion,
you’d be seduced for justice
brutes miss so much beauty, have
uprooted Chechnya’s only flower
Natalya Estemirova
Le Saule Pleureur Chante (The Weeping Willow Sings by Douglas Gilbert) traduction française par Nanehlala
Le Saule Pleureur Chante par Douglas Gilbert Coups de feu obsédants
traduction française par Nanehlala
Tristesses débordantes
Noirceurs, Basiji,
Ecoute ma Neda qui dit
Mon cœur me pince
J’entends chanter dans les feuilles
Les branches mouvantes
Paradant les libertés
Comme un triste rêve vert
Les rouges d’automne, en avance.
Mais des rivières de sang
Les yeux béants
Un cauchemar dans la rue Kargar
Le monde un écran amer
J’entends ma Neda chanter:
Ça m’a brulé
Mais je ne peux même pas la pleurer
Devant la mosquée Niloufar
L’Ayatolla rit de mon chant, mais
Ses secrets ne m’étonnent plus
Son satanisme est flagrant
Ce que mon cœur chante est la seule vérité et
Qu’il ne se soit pas rappelé sa mère
Me brule
L’Ayatollah n’est pas une femme, pas un homme
N’ayant jamais eu de bébé
Et ignorant des mises au monde
Il ne sait rien du cri
De la liberté
Oh Dieu
Sauve cet enfant
— traduction française
par Nanehlala ( Poems For Neda )
— From “The Weeping Willow Sings” by Douglas Gilbert
Mer de Neda (Sea of Neda by Douglas Gilbert) traduction française par Nanehlala
Mer de Neda par Douglas Gilbert Donne-nous du courage, Neda — traduction française par Nanehlala ( Poems For Neda )
traduction française par Nanehlala
La Mer Verte s’ouvre pour toi ;
Traverse vers l’Amour Promis, et
Nous distribuerons le nôtre.
— From “The Sea of Neda” by Douglas Gilbert
Oh Say Can You See “Beyond The Dust Storm”, Neda And Me
Beyond The Dust Storm Tear gas in the haze Covered in blood We prayed for the crowd Rising in the settling dust – Douglas Gilbert
canisters and batons,
oh hail freedom –
it stayed with us, all, for
we walked with God by the crack and hiss
the flag of her clothing,
she grabbed my hand, said
run with me up Kargar street
and I will not be afraid
and the dust dispersed
Neda appeared
high in the sky
smiling at us, and
we walked with God July the 9th
