by Lillian Farzan-Kashani (Santa Monica, CA)
Your energy shines
Like the sun rays
Grateful to be near you,
I clean off your headstone with rosewater
What a gift to be raised
In the language you spoke
Hayedeh and Faramarz on repeat
In your honor
I wish we could have gotten
Further into the
Rumi + Hafez of it all
Perhaps not a poet
But a philosopher
I wonder what you would say now
My fiancé’s flight canceled
Bombs going off in your homeland
And too close to where your parents rest
Would you tense like the rest of our family
At the sight of a kefiyyeh?
Or see it just as
The stars I was given as a child, to wear around my neck
A symbol of
The people, at the end of the day
With whom you found grace, even kinship
Moved by their beauty and hospitality
Oh how I long for more time spent with you, Baba, your leveled head and all
Lillian Farzan-Kashani is an Iranian American and Jewish therapist, poet, and speaker based in Los Angels, CA. Much her her work is rooted in being a child of immigrants and is reflective of her intersectionality. Read more about her professional and creative pursuits at https:www.lillianfarzan.com/
The Jewish Writing Project 