You won’t believe it, I have stars in my fists.
When I squeeze them, light seeps out of every crevice.
And in my glass-like bones quicksilver glows green.
I have stars in my fists,
but I fear someone might steal them.
I watch every corner, listen.
There is someone in the dark.
It’s the monster from my nanny’s tales,
his mad eyes, volcanoes,
gushing violet and crimson rage.
I recognize the monster, thief,
in the dark craving for the stars
I hold so dear.
Screaming, I realize, I need a weapon
to match his strength and cruelty.
I pick rocks and hurl them bravely at his head,
till he falls, wounded, bleeding to death.
Lo, the fallen monster,
From such height to such dust!
But you won’t believe it:
the stars too have vanished from my fists.
Simin Behbahani’s English Translations from the book entitled A Cup of Sin Courtesy of Syracuse University Press
