Forough Farrokhzad - SALAM, O NIGHT!

Salam! O immaculate night.
Salam! O night that changes
the eyes of the desert wolves
into cavernous orbits of faith
and certainty.

And on the banks of your rivulets
the breeze of the willows –
that gentle breeze -- feels
the approach of the axe.

I belong to this world
where thoughts have no weight,
a world of words and noises,
a world like a snake pit
full of the clatter of the steps
of an entire people who
spins a rope to hang you --.
while I embrace you –

Salam! O immaculate night!

There is always a space
between seeing and the window.
Why did I not look
like the moment when a man
walked along the wet trees ?


Forough Farrokhzad
Translated by Tatul Sonentz
from the French translation of Sylvie M. Miller