#levi thompson

[majestativa]

And I know that nothing will remain from all the red illusions of a wild poppy but a few drops of blood.

FORUGH FARROKHZAD (فروغ فرخزاد) — Reorienting Modernism in Arabic and Persian Poetry, Ed. & transl. by Levi Thompson, (2023)

[soulchronicity]

Before the betrayal, 12 years later, and Ray anatomy notes.

[majestativa]

I do not fear death, but I do fear meaningless death.

ABD AL-WAHHAB AL-BAYATI (عبد الوهاب البياتي) — Reorienting Modernism in Arabic and Persian Poetry, Ed. & transl. by Levi Thompson, (2023)

[majestativa]

Then, drunk from its inner pain, [the Phoenix] throws itself on the awesome fire.

NIMA YOOSHIJ (نيما يوشيج) — Reorienting Modernism in Arabic and Persian Poetry, on Mansur Al-Hallaj, Ed. & transl. by Levi Thompson, (2023)

[majestativa]

A thousand greetings to tomorrow’s poets.

NAZIK AL-MALAIKA (نازك الملائكة) — Reorienting Modernism in Arabic and Persian Poetry, Ed. & transl. by Levi Thompson, (2023)

[majestativa]

You know, Nima was a poet in whom I saw, for the first time, an intellectual atmosphere and a kind of human perfection, like Hafez. I, as a reader, felt I was dealing with a man, not just a bunch of superficial sentiments and trite, commonplace words – a factor in explaining and analyzing the problems, a vision and sensibility that rose above ordinary conditions and petty needs. His simplicity always astounded me, especially when behind this simplicity I would suddenly recognize all the complexities and dark questions of life, like a star that directs a person’s face to the sky. In his simplicity, I discovered my own simplicity.

FORUGH FARROKHZAD (فروغ فرخزاد) — Reorienting Modernism in Arabic and Persian Poetry, on Nima Yooshij, Ed. & transl. by Levi Thompson, (2023)

[majestativa]

On the threshold of a cold season, in the mournful assembly of mirrors in the dirgeful gathering of pale experiences in this sunset impregnated with the knowledge of silence how can one tell a person who goes along patiently, seriously, lost to stop? How can you tell a man he’s not alive, that he’s never been alive?

FORUGH FARROKHZAD (فروغ فرخزاد) — Reorienting Modernism in Arabic and Persian Poetry, Ed. & transl. by Levi Thompson, (2023)

[majestativa]

I shrouded him in his forgotten song. In the basement of my memory, I buried him.

AHMAD SHAMLOU (احمد شاملو) — Reorienting Modernism in Arabic and Persian Poetry, Ed. & transl. by Levi Thompson, (2023)