1

The assortment of edible herbs is there in patio under the tree, and it should be cleaned…

2

Lady Soroor is there with some other happy women

Lady Soroor has many sickening things to say

About love,

About betrothal,

About marriage and the post-spousal ball

Lady Soroor is there with the straps of her green décolleté dress

That has stuck in an alive and stubborn creature…

And the assortment of edible herbs is still there in the boring patio of Lady Soroor

3

“I know he would leave me eventually

You dedicate your life to him,

You waste your time for him,

And you kill yourself for him

But one day you will wake up and see his heart belongs to someone else”

Masumeh is silent while the drops of water drip

And there are two eyes staring at nothing in the small pool of patio

4

The assortment of edible herbs is there with small stains

Zari is cleaning the satins slowly in her head

Death is panting under a padded lid

And everyone wants to escape the suffocating atmosphere of Zarri’s room

Where her 6 children are

Zarri is thinking to flying far and becoming so light…

But every moment something becomes more alive in her womb…

The assortment of edible herbs is there on two fashion magazine

The closing borders of the world are being tighter

5

Bahar has a pill to prevent her from herself

But how long she can go on like this?

She is there with her irrelevant tears before her menstruation

She has a wide open window and a secret love

And she is lost in the letters hidden under the cupboard.

6

There is a sound of rain, raining on a wall

And there is your voice, voice of someone who cries under the warmness of a dryer

You cannot escape your room

Your heart is bored of these moments and your heart is looking for you

There is a “hollow Lady Soroor” in your headaches

She is like these opaque images that has surrounded you

There are two red spots and there is one napkin stained with lipstick

Someone is thinking to go far away after being such close

And the fetus of Zari continues its useless paddling

You cannot fly, no! You cannot fly

Some hands are raised out of mud to stick to your legs

Some hands are raised out of mud to hold your life

So get the hold of your life and stop speaking

7

At last, Ghormeh Sabzi will be ready to serve

Like always it is…

And they will turn on the lights

And the curtains will fall…

Fatemeh Ekhtesari

Translated by Mohammad Hosseini Moghaddam