Voices of Solidarity

AIAW members respond to crisis in Iran

Zara Houshmand:
Identifying Photos of Basijis

When the eyes of the living hold no more light than the dead
and ignorance makes sport of human dignity,

when the marksman lifts his weapon’s scope to hollow eye
and surrenders his soul to smoke and mirrors,

when a human body falters at the border, barbed,
between fragile meaning and momentary meat,

when tender sons at one stroke become men and no longer men,
then Sohrab dies again, and yet again for each new age.

There is no Rostam left to carry his weight from the field,
not one killer standing among you worthy to feel this shame.

On June 20th, 2009, Neda Agha-Soltan, a 26 year old Iranian woman and a student of philosophy who was attending a demonstration in Tehran protesting the vote-count fraud in the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was aimed at and shot in the heart by a Basiji hiding on the rooftop of a civilian house. In the jittery cell phone video of a bystander who captured her murder, we hear her father wailing her name, begging her to stay, not to leave, as blood gushes from her chest and streams out of her mouth. The name Neda in Persian means “The call.”

The following poem is by Sholeh Wolpe, an Iranian-American poet residing in Los Angeles. So far this poem has been translated into Malayalam, Persian, Spanish and French. Sholeh is the author of Rooftops of Tehran, The Scar Saloon, and Sin-Selected Poems of Forugh Farrokhzad. More information: www.sholehwolpe.com

I Am Neda
Sholeh Wolpe

Leave the Basiji bullet in my heart,
fall to prayer in my blood,
and hush, father
— I am not dead.

More light than mass,
I flood through you,
breathe with your eyes,
stand in your shoes, on the rooftops,
in the streets, march with you
in the cities and villages of our country
shouting through you, with you.
I am Neda—thunder on your tongue.

Ghazal for Neda
Roger Sedarat

All Persian poems now rhyme with Neda.
Her name in every poet’s breath, “Neda.”

No one believes the U.S. murdered you.
We know it’s state-created myth, Neda.

It’s not what was or what has come to pass:
We die online, in real time, with Neda.

What does the world feel for those who oppress?
“Niente,” “betsuni,” “niets,” “nada.”

Divine symbol at your vigil: I saw
A candle flame consume a moth, Neda.

Nothing in Islam supports your murder,
Not the Qur’an, nor the Hadith, Neda.

Her name means “voice.” Because she cannot sing
Iran remains in silence with Neda.

 

Writings on Iran
Angella Nazarian
Women Without Men: Iran and Its People in Transition
READ MORE

 

Writings on Iran
Angella Nazarian
Iranian Americans in the Spotlight
READ MORE

 

AIAW Press Release - July 07, 2009
For Immediate Release
Bay Area Writers To Raise Voices, Funds for People of Iran.
READ MORE

Solidarity Event
Saturday, July 11, 2009 - 2pm - 5pm
Literatures of Resistance
An afternoon in solidarity with the Iranian people at The Bowery Poetry Club. READ MORE

Solidarity Event
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Stand in solidarity with the Iranian people
On July 25th, millions of people will gather in cities around the world to offer public support to the people working for democracy in Iran. The inauguration of Ahmadinejad will take place sometime between July 26th and August 19th. July 25th was chosen to give voice to the millions who believe that this inauguration is based on a fraudulent election. Please join us. READ MORE

Solidarity Event
Sun, July 26, 2009, 2pm - 4.30pm
Raising our voices for Iran
An afternoon of readings at Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco.
READ MORE