Midnight approaches in Texas
And in New York midnight has passed.
A new day dawns in Sweden.
It is only in the City of Angels
That night will not forsake me.

I clasp my arms around myself
Close my eyelids
And cast myself into the night
Like a lone rock.
Maybe in Texas
It will knock on a bedroom window
Or land on a rooftop in New York.
But the world is round
And the heavy loneliness of this night
Sits only on my soul.

Time has turned its back on me
And the earth
Like a black well
Has spread its mouth open
Under my feet.

I let myself cross all borders
And spin like a meteor
Around myself.
But suddenly
The soft ring of a call
Brings me back to earth.

The day has not yet
Approached noon in Esfahan*
And my mother
Who is clipping my father’s nails
On the balcony
Has heard the sound
Of a rock
Plunging into the courtyard pool**.

*City in central Iran
**In traditional Iranian architecture, each house has a small pool in the courtyard where ablutions are performed especially before prayer.

Read the original Persian poem here.