Freedom

by Bänoo Zan / September 15th, 2024

• This poem was written by Mirzadeh Eshghi (1894-1924) who was a poet during the Iranian Constitutional Revolution. It is translated here by Bänoo Zan.

This land calls for a revolution—no less—
demands a boundless bloodletting—no less—
Today, the tree of our liberty
needs to be watered by my blood and yours—no less—

NOTE:

I decided to translate this poem to commemorate the second anniversary of the murder of Jina Mahsa Amini in custody of the so-called “morality police” in the Islamic Republic of Iran on September 16, 2022, and the emergence of the Woman Life Freedom movement.

 

Bänoo Zan is a poet, librettist, translator, teacher, editor and poetry curator, with more than 250 published poems and poetry-related pieces as well as three books including Songs of Exile and Letters to My Father. She is the founder of Shab-e She’r (Poetry Night), Toronto’s most diverse and brave poetry reading and open mic series (inception: 2012). Her social media links are: LinkedIn; Instagram; Facebook; Twitter Bänoo, along with Cy Strom, is the co-editor of the anthology Woman Life Freedom: Poems for the Iranian Revolution. Read other articles by Bänoo.

This article was posted on Sunday, September 15th, 2024 at 8:02am and is filed under Poetry.