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Aftertimes

A poem by Forugh Farrokhzad
Translated by Prof. Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak

Death shall come upon me one day,
In a spring brightened with waves of light,
In a winter foggy and far;
Or in an autumn void of howling and mirth!

Death shall come upon me one day,
On a day amidst these bitter-sweet days,
On an idle day much like other days;
A silhouette of the days of now and ere!

Mine eyes like Smokey lanes,
My cheeks like marbles – cold,
Engulfed in a slumber deep;
Empty I shall become of holler and pain!

Gently crawling upon my book,
My hands devoid of the spell of song,
I recall how from these hands in the past,
Surged someday the song’s feral fane!

Dust beckons me down with every breath,
As they arrive to bury me in,
Ah, would that my lovers upon midnight
Bring flowers for my downcast grave!

Once I’m gone; apace to the side,
Haste away darksome shades of this life of mine,
As strangers’ eyes ran their glance
Over the pages that remain mine!

Upon my modest room enters through,
A stranger with thoughts of me after I’m gone,
By the mirror remains in place
A hand print, a brush, or a strand of hair!

Fleeing myself, I sever from self,
As lay waste all that remains,
My soul like a vessel’s sails
Fades off into the horizons’ ways

Headlong, haste away one upon another,
The days and the weeks and even the months,
Your eyes eager for receipt of a letter
Stares into the roadways afar!

But alas my cold frame,
Crushed by the dust – the earth holding ever fast,
In want of you and far from the palpitations of your heart,
Mine own heart withers within the layers of earth abound!

My name shall the winds and the rain in the aftertime,
Gently wash away from over my grave,
My tomb endures nameless on its way;
Free of the tales of scandal and fame!