I Will Say Good Day Again

I will say good day again

To the light of the sun
To the wash of the clouds
Slate, infinite

To the ash trees
Their painful sproutings
My truss in parched seasons

To the sparrows
Their winged offerings
Musk of night meadows

To my mother
Who lived in a mirror
My mother
Me in old age

And to the earth
Hoarding in green seeds
My passion to refrain

I will say good day again

I’m coming, I’m coming, I’m coming
My hair, the smell of earth under earth
My eyes
The dark knowledge of days
Bearing thistle I have picked
From the other side of the wall
I’m coming, I’m coming, I’m coming

Good day, I will say again
To the young girl
And all the rest of you
Standing
In the liminality of love

Forough Farrokhzad was born in 1935 in Tehran, Iran and died (in a car accident) in 1967. She is one of the most celebrated Iranian poets, known especially for her innovative style and daring subject matter focusing often on women and sexuality. Her first collection of poems appeared when she was only twenty years old. By 1958, she had published two more collections, which established her reputation as a “modernist” poet. Her fifth collection of poetry, published posthumously, was called Let Us Trust in the Beginning of the Cold Season. Forough (as she is called by her many admirers) was also a filmmaker. This poem, taken from the volume Selected Poems, is my own translation.
                      —Susan Bazargan

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