The Wind Will Blow Us Away

 

by Forough Farrokhzad

Translated by Sholeh Wolpé

 

Inside my little night, alas,

the wind has a rendezvous with the leaves;

inside my little night, there is fear

and dread of desolation.

 

Listen.

Hear the darkness blow like wind?

I watch this prosperity through alien eyes.

I am addicted to my despair.

Listen.

Hear the darkness blow?

 

This minute, inside this night,

something’s coming to pass. The moon

is troubled and red; clouds

are a procession of mourners waiting

to release tears upon this rooftop,

this rooftop about to crumble, to give way.

 

A moment,

then, nothing.

 

Beyond this window, the night quivers,

and the earth once again halts its spin.

From beyond this window, the eyes

of the unknown are on you and me.

 

May you be green, head to toe—

put your hands like a fevered memory in mine…

these hands that love you.

 

And cede your lips

like a life-warmed feeling

to the caress of my lovesick lips.

 

The wind will one day blow us away.

The wind will blow us away.

 

Farrukhzād, Furūgh. "The Wind Will Blow Us Away." Sin: Selected Poems of Forugh Farrokhzad. Trans. Sholeh Wolpé. 2007 ed. Fayetteville: U of Arkansas, 2007. 34-35. Print.