Poet of the Month 099: PARINAZ FAHIMI

 

PARINAZ FAHIMI

c 2014

 

 

 

 

CINNAMON

 

 

I want to be cinnamon

to be mixed with sugar

when I am braided into dough and sprinkled on its edges

I hide in the lines of Grandmother’s fingers

folded in her prayers

rubbed onto grandchildren’s lips

to sweeten a careful kiss

to nourish the ants on the rug 

and so

I might dissolve into the memory of childhood

and forever bake poems

with the scent of cinnamon

as if I could solve my heartache with spices

and steady it with sugar’s promise.

 

 

 

 

 

From the posthumous collection

Poppies with Alef

 

 

 

Translated from Persian by

ELHUM SHAKERIFAR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Use the link below to read about the short life of unpublished Iranian poet PARINAZ FAHIMI, who sadly died of a brain tumour in 2016:

 

 

 

https://www.poetrytranslation.org/poem/cinnamon/#poem-notes

 

 

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