The Forbidden City Poem by Rosa Jamali

The Forbidden City
A poem by Rosa Jamali
Translated from original Persian into English by the Author



When I was leaving the city,
From the grey mass stockpiles of cats which are hanging on the parks,
From the stinky smell of the leftovers and rubbish and dirt in the kitchen
It's been about a year nobody has lifted it
With an unusual smell
The pavements are overcrowded with passers-by
The black washing hanging
And dizzy dumb people who have been pressed into each other in each move
With a strike
And vertigo
When the door is closed in a rush
Your finger has been stuck halfway through
And it has been bruised badly
When they are all pushing and swarming into the underground station
And a continuous buzz...

From Martyrs of Zarrabkhaneh bridge
And Martyrs of Pasdaran
And unknown Martyrs of the city
And Martyrs of the 28th of Tir
And Martyrs of the 8th of Tir
And the 20th of Aban
And Martyrs of the 9th of Bahman
And Martyrs of the 8th of Esfand.

I'm leaving the city...

The station is bursting with slack cements and concrete and my handsfree is not passing the noise,
I've been transforming to the buzzing alarms of Highways
This humming sound which is gloriously disintegrating
It's handsfree that doesn't transmit your voice
And the dust,
And the dust.

I've turned to the remains of the germs which is flying over the helicopters and floating in the air
And this is me!
The city!
This beloved destruction which is coated in charcoal
In petroleum smell and flip tops
Motor oil and the lining
This Beloved darkening destruction Coated in lead
Deconstructed at the Highway Bridges of Sadr which never ends

''What?
I don't hear that!
What are you saying?
Say it louder! ''

Bulldozers line is not going to end
It's been hours that traffic has turned you to a miserable cockroach.

I reached you at the conjunction
You turned into right
I turned into left.

The underground railway
And the trains
Missing minerals in my body including silicone and co
Which has been found in a mine in the North East of the country
Railways are restricted
Railways are restricted
Railways are restricted
And we'll never join.

Highways are blocked?

Here we go!

Metal tool
Wooden Arrow
Frozen bench
Eyebrow pencil
Lotion
Sunscreen!

My lip lines are not correct
Why is it so?

It's been some days that my computer hasn't received anything
Everything has been wrecking badly
From the roundabout in the North West of city to my lipstick all
Which has been glued on my face
And it has emerged into my beauty that means it will never break up!

It's going on
And it's been hours that it's going on
It's been hours...

I estimated the temperature of the city
Then I went to the lab
The tests say
There is something missing in my body
No anti-oxidant particle is floating skin-deep on my surface

Me. the City. Me
The city. Me. The city
The city. The city. The city
And me.

I won't be contaminated by this air
I've turned to onion peels and I'm ready to cry
Ready for the earthquakes
And regular accidents
When the bumper is crushed
And the engine is not working
Fixing the body
And fighting
And letting it pass
And getting to the final point.

Destruction accomplished?

At this very moment the embryo dies
I'll put a uniform on the city
To send him to school tomorrow

Why doesn't he listen to me?

I'm a handicapped
And in my ears deaf!

They've dislodged pebbles and salt rock in the alleys

When we get to the street at the end of the bridge
We are happy again
And you're like pomegranate seeds shedding inside me

You see how he shivers
His nostrils tremble
You see how he had a crush on me
Moron!

And shopping plastics
Which cannot be displaced on the counters
I cannot count the odd numbers

Now I'm going to spare my whole time on computer games
It's one of those games where you build a house and make a city

The Third Millennium has just fallen over us...

I wish I could make a city one more time
In this domain of games
And then a house
For my son
That is not born yet
And then I'll tell him
Where I have lived.