Republic of Stones

A madman drops a stone into a well
That stone is the homeland
And in Stoneland
The people have hearts of stone
In Stoneland people position boulders
for others to trip over
In Stoneland we worshipped a huge boulder
Once a week we gathered in front of that enormous boulder
Placing a small stone on the ground
Kneeling down to prostrate ourselves
Before the huge stone
Our foreheads touching the small stone
We used to recite a stone prayer
At the end of the ceremony
we threw our stones at the great devil
The great devil hid everywhere
we stoned him and stoned him
Constantly
And that great devil was the huge stone incarnate
Before which we bowed down
In stoneland by order of the great devil
we threw stones at each other
Your stone is coming
That is my greeting.
--------------------
In my dreams
A woman is continually begging for help
Shrieking "No, no, no."
When I wake up I realise
she has been dead two or three years
My temples are throbbing
Her screaming tortures me

One day, just like any other
They killed her effortlessly
They declared she was to blame
such a stubborn woman
.....
....
And I still have a headache.

In my dreams
A woman screams for help
Shrieking  NO , no, no'
When I wake up
Two or three years have elapsed
Since her death
The woman is still screaming
And my temples are still throbbing

From the sound of whipping
on the soles of my feet
the banging of words into my brain
The sounds penetrate the isolation of my thoughts
the sound of the smashing of my bones
My nerves are aching

The rasping sound of the saw
The impact was shocking
The past and future
annihilate each other

The world is spinning
The saw has become a baton
The baton entered my body
The baton in somebody's hand
The owner of the hand was repeating
"Mrs Shahrookhi" in a smarmy tone
He kept saying Mrs Shahrookhi
But I was not Mrs Shahrookhi.
I was beautiful and I was Zahra and Monir
And Parvaneh and Sadiqua and Roya.

The baton and saw moved back and forth
I was a hole (?)
A face I recognised, shouted
'You whore'
Does the hole have a name?

The world was spinning
And my head was full of images of blood and violence

I turned my camera
Muttered something out of my bleeding mouth

Nobody could understand

Translation from Persian by Jennifer Langer