Aunt Homa Poem by Joe Sadeghloo

I was driving home
Late at night,
Driving on a tollway,
going north to Wisconsin.

Then, suddenly, I noticed Aunt Homa
Who was wearing her Chador*, like usual
Showing only her old oval white wrinkled face,
And not looking you in the eye, like usual...
Cracking innocent short smiles
Characteristic of Moslem ladies...

Don't know why, but I played a joke on her:
I showed her the toll station lights, far away
And asked her:
'Aunt Homa, do you see those lights, over there? In the distance?
Do you know what place is that..? '

Yes! Aunt Homa wanted to know what the place was...,
'Aunt Homa! That's an Imamzadeh*! '
It seemed my passengers were amused by my statement!
It seemed they liked the joke, they were laughing...!

Aunt Homa asked innocently in Azery: 'San Allah, Yousef Balasi?
Doordon? Imamzadeh di? ' (Really, Child of Yousef? Is it really an Imamzadeh?)
Then, she whispered hurriedly: 'Peace be upon Him(Prophet Mohammad) and his family.'

Now, I had reached the toll station...
There was no one else in the car...
Aunt Homa wasn't there either,
But I was still hearing her last words, she made years back,
in an airport, in a far away country:

'Navar di America da? ' (What is there in America?)
'Hammiseez Getheeriz Americaya! '(You are all going to America!)




1-(Chador: A loose, usually black robe worn by Muslim women that covers the body from head to toe)
2-(Imamzadeh: Reference to a Shrine/Grave-site of an immediate descendant of a Shi'a Imam)