I walked over to the folks at Sergels Torg.. and asked what was going on in Farsi. there are roses and candles on the rainy marketplace. "24 people died" they said. So I start a slow swelling up of tears.. the lady I am talking to sees and embraces me.. the embrace causes a flood of tears. A small crowd gathers around me. I am able to control myself. They start talking of things here in Swedish with my dad, sparing me. Then they start Farsi again. and say.. the next time we see it each other it will be in Iran and we wont be wearing headscarfs. apparently they struck a cord. I start it up again.. to my embarassment. This time all these teenage girls (or small ladies as my cousin calls them) come up to me. Older people do too. They all start trying to say happy stuff to make me happy. I am now laughing and crying and there were probably people photographing me. They then tell my dad that they have kids too and they think I could get along with them and give me their numbers. My dad told me later that they thought I was in high school and the girls wanted to be my friends. I think it was the red face and swollen eyes. Maybe I wont get in trouble for photographing in Iran if I look like a kid?

at Home Depot I found

underwater wonders
springtime grass,
main street lights,
robes for the queen,
christopher robin's swing,
skipping stones,
space dust,
space suit,
stillness,
poetic light,
eternal light,
cast shadow,
solemn stone,
solomn moment,
discovered ground,
organic garden,
aviary nest,
healing waters,
make believe,
ray of hope,
whole new world


whole new world,
brand new morning,

at Adlers I found

temptation,
obession,
mojo,
moxie,
kismet,
love-at-first-sight,
Venus-envy,
pillow-talk,
pink-slip,
sangria,
merlot,
sorbet,
shrimp,
persimmon,
chutney,
hummus,
hot-tamale,
oxygen,
vintage linen,
Kasbah,
Nevada,
Babylon

at Lowes I found

old gold,
india ink,
newsprint,
scented notepaper,
lemon,
barley,
henna,
olive oil,
watermelon slice,
silk kimono,
South Sea pearl,
pencil eraser,
milk sugar,
pussy willow,
forget-me-not,
rose of naples,
narcissus,
family tree,
icicle,
diploma,
ivy league,
Shiraz

* . .
. . *
* . .

( . . . .

.
. * .
. . .

.
. *
.
.
. . .

. .
. .
.
.
. .

. . .
.
. *

this is not my thesis

- . - . - .--

- --- . - + -- .-

.--.- . -- . - . -- -__-_

this is not my thesis

have-a-heart-trap

my cats started catching mice daily,

i found old halloween reese's wrapping all over the ground

and lay a have-a-heart trap

one day it caught a fluffy brown eyed mouse

we called him bill meuller the mouse

after the red sox 3rd basemen

and put him in the car

and dropped him off at the mansion down the street.

then we checked on trap and there was nobody there

and everyday we checked on it

for 3 months

then it was christmas

and we went away

and when we came back

we found a little shriveled up mouse carcass

starved to death

in the have a heart trap

an indoor cat

came downstairs with a bird in his mouth

march of blue and yellow

march of blue and yellow

they speak from the cavaties of their faces
they emulate
the droning of those like them
the celebrity of far away places
the royalty of their neighbors

nationalism undermines hospitality
sameness antagonizes guests

kaffiyeh coffee

donut
breakfast donut
breakfast sandwich
breakfast sandwich eggs
breakfast sandwich eggs bacon
sandwich eggs pork
sandwich eggs kosher
sandwich eggs halal
breakfast eggs halal donut
breakfast halal donut coffee
breakfast halal iced coffee
halal iced coffee
kaffeiyah iced coffee















http://images.google.com/images?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=s&hl=en&q=kaffiyeh&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/28/dunkin-donuts-pulls-ad-fe_n_103859.html

at the brink of understanding a forgotten language
in a return to a place I've never been
there is structure without meaning
there is context without content

cavities of faces sound
numbing lullabies

accents are recognized. I can tell if they are from the west or east or south, but
I can't tell what they are saying

list again

"Middle Eastern" at 10
"born in Sweden" at 11
"from Bellingham, MA" at 12
"mixed" at 13
"a Jewish grandmother" at 14
"Turkish" at 15
"Persian Mother" at 16
"Persian" at 17
"Pakistani Father" at 18
"Half Swedish" at 19

list

5 homes

1 home

1 studio

1 parents home

1 major thomas fenner house

1 car

17 friends

2 parents

3 parents

4 toothbrushes

1 electric toothbrush

1 purple bent toothbrush

1 travel toothbrush

1 oscar the grouch kids toothbrush

4 tickets

2 cats

3 cats

1 phone
4 phones

1 computer
6 harddrives

1 under-the-bed
1 sunlight-pouring-through-the-window

1 bent axle
1 taped window
1 crushed drivers side door

5 classes that i take
1 class that i teach
6 classes
1 extra class
2 extra classes
3 extra classes


10 fingers
10 toes
1 nose
2 nostrils

1 computer
no computer

2 blogs

Noorooz

today is the Persian New Year.

My mother has rare moments when she starts talking about life in Iran, a land I have never seen. On the car ride home from the Iranian restaurant tonight was one such occassion.

She started off "Did I tell you about the time when my father got a radio and a villager who came to the house to do masonry work went back to the village and announced that the Khan's wife has a very good voice and sings for long periods of time during the day?"

She told me about a celery that grows in the snow in the mountains. there is a kind of plant that has roots something between onions and garlic and grows in the desert, which is mixed with yogurt as a side dish. and a particular kind of thorn used as an ingrient for pickling, which carries a sweet fragrance but bitter taste. and a soup with a weed as an ingredient. Somtimes my mother sees a similar weed plants among the bush on the side of the road here in the US, and wonders if it is the same weed. She knows better than to try; sumac, an common iranian herb, grows wild here, and looks identical, but is of the poison variety which would cause your throat to swell and internal rashes to erupt if injested. But she still talks of wanting to test this sumac in case it is like her Iranian sumac. Then we ponder how we could find out if the American weed matches the Iranain soup weed. I tell her she can bring one here from there.. but if we take the American weed to Iran, and somehow we loose the sample and it sprouts in Iran, the people will get confused about which weed it is they can use for their soup.

Then I think about Sumac and how it is superficially the same but functionaly so different and remember Obama's message this morning quoting Saadi, "Bani adam azaye yek degar an ke dar afareenesh zeyek goharand." "The children of Adam are limbs to each other, having been created of one essence."

What he quote quote is "when one gets sick, the other organs will not have rest." Perhaps only those who read Saadi will fill in the second half. Or maybe it was not neccessary to say the second half? or perhaps it would be compromising America as sick. But I hear the second part of the poem when the first half is read, and his audience is Iranians who are all too familiar with this poem.

I remember my mother reciting this poem when the first gulf war broke out, and reading it on the wall when I was 10 and my family took us see the UN. I also remember a Buddha statue that was scorched on one side from Hiroshima, and the a copy oldest bill of human rights, on a tablet written by Cyrus in 539 BC, the original of which is housed in the British Museum.

Text of the Charter of Human Rights of Cyrus:
Now that with the grace of Mazda I am crowned for the kingdom of Iran , Babylonia and the four cardinal countries , I declare that : As long as I am alive and favoured by Mazda for the kingdom of Iran , Babylonia and the four cardinal countries , I undertake to hnour the religion and custom of all nations under my kingdom . Thus , no governor or other subordinates under my realm shall be allowed to humiliate or insult the religion or custom of the nations under my kingdom or of other nations . From now , that I am crowned , until I am alive and blessed by Mazda for this kigdom , I shall never impose my kingdom to any nation , since the peaple are free to accept or be no war agaist them . As long as I am the king of Iran , Babylonia and the four cardinal countries , I shall not allow any one to oppress another . So , if anybody ‘ s right is injured , I shall take it from the oppressor and punish him and shall give it back to the oppressed . As long as I live , I shall not allow anyone to dispossess others ‘ property by force or take it without concideration or satisfaction of the owner . As long as I live , I shall not allow anyone to use forced or unpaid labour . Today I announce that everybody is free to choose any religion he believes in , and live any where he desires , provided he does not arrogate others ‘ rights , and take any occupation he likes , and spend his property in any way he decides , providing he does not harm others ‘ rights . I declare that every person is responcible for himself , and that no one shall be punished for actions committed by his relatives . Thus , punishment of the criminal ‘ s brother is forbidden . If a member of a family or tribe committed a crime , the person to be punished should be only the criminal , not others . So long as , with the grace of Mazda , I rule as the king , I shall not allow any man or woman to be sold as a slave . In this regard , my governors and other subordinates shall be responcible , in the sphere of their influence , to prevent the trade of slavery . This custom should be totally abolished throughout the world . And , I beg Mazda to succeed me in performing the obligations I have taken towardds the nations of Iran , Babylonia and the nations of the four cardinal countries . Cyrus
The Cyrous ‘ s houman rights epigraph

http://www.iran-law.com/article.php3?id_article=82