Art Arena's World Poems - Poet: Majid Naficy

Majid Naficy

Majid Naficy was born in Iran in 1952. His first collection of poems in Persian, In the Tiger’s Skin, was published in 1969. One year later his book of literary criticism, Poetry as a Structure, appeared.
In 1971 he wrote a children’s book, The Secret of Words, which won a national award in Iran.
In the seventies, Majid was politically active against the Shah’s regime. After the 1979 Revolution, the new theocratic regime began to suppress the opposition, and more than ten relatives, including his first wife Ezzat Tabaian and his brother Sa’id were executed. He fled Iran in 1983 and has since published eight collections of poems, including Muddy Shoes (Beyond Baroque Books, 1999) and Father & Son (Red Hen Press, 2003) as well as four books of essays In Search of Joy: A Critique of Death-Oriented, Male-Dominated Culture in Iran, Poetry & Politics and Twenty-Four Other Essays, The Best of Nima and I Am Iran Alone and Thirty-Five other Essays. He holds his doctorate in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures from the University of California at Los Angeles. His doctoral dissertation, Modernism and Ideology in Persian Literature: A Return to Nature in the Poetry of Nima Yushij was published by University Press of America, Inc. in 1997. Majid Naficy is a co-editor of Daftarhaya Kanoon a Persian periodical published by Iranian Writers' Association in Exile.

"Water Fasting"

"I am a mute dreamer and the world is deaf"
Rumi

We are approaching midnight
Without a conversation or a shining eye
The dusty day has settled
The noise of the city has died down
And you are left alone in your bed
Your son is dreaming in the next room
And uttering words like a mute
Tomorrow he is going to a summer camp
And during his absence
You want to pick Rumi from the shelf
Hang down the pot and potlet
Blow out the flame on the stove
And waterfast for five days
Perhaps what you haven't found in feeding
You will discover in emptiness
He has packed his knapsack
And placed it near the front door
His sneakers are shining in the dark
And you are asking yourself:
"What he is dreaming now?"

The poets will appreciate your Feedback.

Please feel free to Add your comments.


Poets Index	Top of page	World Poems

Copyright shall at all times remain vested in the Author. No part of the work shall be used, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the Author's express written consent.