When
When condom was capote [1], it was ugly, it was bad
When commander of Sepah [2] was a replica of Mammad [3]
When heroin and syringe was per plan
When pain killers were painful themselves
When there was no war, the leaking roof of the house was under the rain’s bomb
When there was no war and brains were under bombardment
When Dracula for my brother was the police
When center of the world for me was Rasht [4]
When the Revolution bowed down, it reached down to Khavaran [5]
When Jamkaran petitions [6] were delivered to Jamaran [7]
When a woman was not a woman but a mother
When my sister’s friend’s friend was a sister
When headscarves were still the camel-lip type [8]
When horse riders of Hussein [9] were motorcycle riding thugs
When it’s you and bitterness of satire, and satirical bitterness
When it’s you and a herd of rejected learned
When it’s you and repentance and carefully-worded [10] poems
When it’s you and the thought of pissing on this world
When strawberry and banana became free in paradise
When love affair between eyes and breast became surreptitious
When "Tom" tore “Jerry” [11] apart and ate him to the last
When my eighteen year old thought was taken away by a girl’s period
When we were drained by the "Black Is Color of Love"
Did you see how we were tuned with broken diapasons [12]!
When the thought of you would wet my shorts and prayer rug
When my being twenty was causing danger by your alley
When "Shamloo" [13] had no legs, "Moallem" [14] was the millipede
When victory was not on the table, was alone in bed
When it’s you and bitterness of satire, and satirical bitterness
When it’s you and a herd of rejected learned
When it’s you and repentance and carefully-worded poems
When it’s you and the thought of pissing on this world of mine
When reform and reformism were the same as each other
When the revolutionaries bowed down or they were a few
When beards became stubbles and roots went down under the hatchet
When likes of "Bakeri" [15] and "Hemmat" [16] became politicians
When "Fereydoon" [17] overdosed and died
When twenty million votes was taken away by the wind
When cloaks [31] were chocolate-colored, white, and yellow
When we were free and freedoms were like pain
When film directors were baton-wielders
It wasn’t cinema, it was circus, full of "Hedyeh" [18] and "Golzar" [19]
When it’s you and bitterness of satire, and satirical bitterness
When it’s you and a herd of rejected learned
When it’s you and repentance and carefully-worded poems
When it’s you and the thought of pissing on this world of mine
When my wife and your daughter and your mother means duff [20]
When rap became vomit in the throat of every jobless lumpen [21]
When ghost of "Marx" [22] was over the head of "Derrida" [23]
When "Dali" [24] behind the canvas, was "Frida" [25]
When "Hussein" [26] had the White House, he became "Barack"
When our representative in America, was "NIAC" [27]
When we laughed at politics and politics laughed at us
When satire had parasites [28], frequencies spoiled
When human rights was game and strategy
When homeland was "Cyrus" [29], Chelo Kabab [30], and nostalgia
When, when this was going on
Someone from behind the curtain was giving us the finger
When it’s you and bitterness of satire, and satirical bitterness
When it’s you and a herd of rejected learned
When it’s you and repentance and carefully-worded poems
When it’s you and the thought of pissing on this world of mine
When it’s you and bitterness of satire, and satirical bitterness
When it’s you and a herd of rejected learned
When it’s you and repentance and carefully-worded poems
When it’s you and the thought of pissing on this world of mine
Translated by MPD 2012 ©
Notes:
[1] Capote is the French word for condom. This could be a reference to the policy of population control and family planning, which was in effect at the time of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, being stopped after the Revolution, i.e. birth control devices, including condom, was frowned upon as being ugly and bad.
[2] The Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution, or The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), is referred to as Sepah, or Pasparan, in Iran.
[3] Mammad is a nickname for Mohammad. Might be a reference to Seyed Mohammad Jahan Ara, a brave commander of the Pasdaran force (IRGC) in Khorramshahr. He was instrumental in liberating Khorramshahr from the Iraqi forces. A eulogy song became a popular war cry after his death in battle. The song and images of him are included in this graphic war footage >>>
[4] Rasht is the provincial capital of Gilan Province in the northern part of Iran.
[5] Khavaran is a neighborhood in south-eastern part of Tehran. Khavaran Cemetery is located in this area, where many executed political prisoners are buried there.
[6] Jamkaran is a village in Qom Province in Iran and the site of Jamkaran Mosque, where Imam Zaman is believed to reappear form a well at the site. Thousands of appeal notes (petitions)are dropped in the well each year, asking for help.
[7] Jamaran is a neighborhood in northern part of Tehran, Iran. It was once the home of Ayatollah
Khomeini.
[8] Many types of mandatory head covers have been used in Iran throughout the years, one of them being referred to by some people as “camel-lip head scarf”.
[9] Hussein ibn Ali ibn Abi Ṭalib (626-680), the third Imam in Shia Islam.
[10] The phrase "دست به عصا" literally translates to “cane-in-hand” which is emblematic of doing a task with caution and refrain. Extreme caution in behavior or deed.
[11] “Tom and Jerry” is a series of theatrical animated cartoon films created from 1940 to 1954.
[12] Diapason is the Tuning Fork.
[13] Ahmad Shamloo (1925-2000), Iranian poet, writer, and journalist.
[14] A vague reference to Mohammad Ali Moallem Damghani, a contemporary Iranian
eulogist poet serving the ruling clerical establishment in Iran.
[15] A vague reference to Mehdi Bakeri (1954-1985), an Islamist revolutionary at the time of the Iranian Revolution. During Iran-Iraq war, he joined the IRGC and was promoted as a commander. He was killed in combat.
[16] A vague reference to Mohammad Ebrahim Hemmat (1955-1984), an Islamist revolutionary at the time the Iranian Revolution. During Iran-Iraq war, he joined the IRGC and was promoted as a commander. He was killed in combat.
[17] A vague reference to Fereydoon Foroughi (1951-2001), a musician, composer, singer, and actor.
[18] A vague reference to Hedieh Tehrani, an Iranian actress.
[19] A vague reference to Mohammad Reza Golzar, an Iranian actor.
[20] Duff is a colloquial Farsi word. Depending on the context it is use, it could mean anything from a woman being a ‘babe’ to a ‘slut’.
[21] Lumpen is an adjective from the German lumpenproletariat, referring to dispossessed and displaced people who are cut off from the socioeconomic class with which they ordinarily be identified.
[22] Karl Marx (1818-1883), German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist.
[23] Jacques Derrida (1930-2004), French philosopher.
[24] Salvador Dali (1904-1989), Spanish painter.
[25] Frida Kahlo (1907-1954), Mexican painter.
[26] Barack Hussein Obama, President of the United States of America.
[27] National Iranian American Council (NIAC)
[28] Parasites is a French word, means static, interference, noise. Parazit is also a Voice of American Persian language satire television show, now suspended.
[29] Cyrus the Great (576 BC–530 BC), the founder of the Achaemenid Empire.
[30] Chelo Kabab is a popular Persian cuisine.
[31] A reference to former Iranian President Seyed Mohammad Khatami.