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Ahlberg, Allan | Ahvenjärvi, Juhani | Angelou, Maya | Bakhtiar, Shireen | Beatty, Paul | Boland, Eavan | Brooks, Gwendolyn | Brown, Sterling | Bryant, Dana | Chapman, Tracy | Clifton Read, Lucile | Coleman, Anita Scott | Coleman, Wanda | Cullun, Countee | Dashiell, J.M. | Dove, Rita | Dylan, Bob | Evans, Mari | Gaines, Reg E. | Giovanni, Nikki | Goldbarth, Albert | Harper, Michael | Hayden, Chris | Hayden, Robert | Jordan, June | Lorde, Audre | Madhubuti, Haki R. | Mc Kenty, Bob | Moore, Richard | Reed, Ishmael | Salt'n'Pepa | Sayar, Keyvan | Scott-Heron, Gill | Shakur, Tupac | Sinervo, Helena | Stevens, Cat | Teasdale, Sarah | The Sugarhill Gang | Walcott, Derek | Walker, Alice | Walker, Margaret | Williams, Saul | Wyclef Jean | Young, Al
Bakhtiar, Shireen
Isfahan
Stars streaking clover skies
wet flakes in winter white
sulphur gauze sweeps
across cobalt east
river a mirror of crimson
brushed with leaves
roses on Isfahan's old bridge
silk and doves, turquoise
mosque, wild moss
bees swarm around
white orchid moon
where my Grandfather's
pistachio trees bloom
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When I Became a Poet
Indeed the idol
I have loved
so long
spring roses
of Omar Khayam
Laid a rose
on his grave
in Nishapur
pear blossoms
in the pool
Seven stars and two
on a curtain of blue
big dipper and the
luxurious Samarkand
moon
Fan the red coals
Russian samovar
China tea
glass of amber chai
a cloud of butterflies
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1939
In the corner
of the room
on the edge
of the Persian
carpet Parveen
and I played
house with
cardboard and
pieces of left
over cotton
Second floor
open window
Tehran summer
on Shah Reza
pistachio nuts
in gunny sacks
on the sidewalk
thick sweet
cod liver oil
in the ice box
Long room in the afternoon
crank gramophone
dance barefoot
a Russian dance
father sings Ferdowsi
Bread soaked
in yellow soup
with a squeeze of lemon
white rice
with saffron
on china
Rose of Omar Khayam
purple jewels of the Nile
when I was nine
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Behind a White Cloud
Reflected in the old
blue river was a
white cloud touching
the river in reflection
On the moss covered
bank was a red and
white boat beached
on the wet rocks
A little way away
stood a white house
with a red barn
on a wheat field farm
Slipping round the
old river was a green
valley with wild mustard
flowers falling on violets
The orange sun
perfectly silent
behind a white cloud
was an iridescent star
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On the Road to Mandalay
I think I'll go out
into the sunlight
and sit under a
tree and think
about nothing
but me
I think I'll be
Maha Muni on the
Eightfold path
under a red
umbrella holding
a fan
I think I'll go
to old Burma
on the Eastern road
and touch the Golden Rock
like a bird
I think I'll ride
a white elephant
with a marigold lei
to the stars at dawn
on the road to Mandalay
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