Poem by H.E. Sayeh (Houshang Ebtehaj)

Translation by Mojdeh Marashi and Chad Sweeney

Transcribed poem in English (image ID) and original poem in Farsi under the cut

And because persian poetry should be heard, not just read, you can listen to it as well:

nowruz pirooz from amu nowruz & naneh sarma🪻

ای کاش آدمی وطن‌اش را هم‌چون بنفشه‌ها می‌شد با خود ببرد هر کجا که خواست

(ay kāsh ādami vatanash ra hamchon banafshehha mishod bā khod bebarad har kojā ke khāst)

if only a person could take their homeland, wherever they wanted, like violets

as winter winds down to an end i always find myself listening to “kooche banafsheha” by farhad. he sings about the last days of esfand, the final month in the iranian calendar, when violets, with their leaves and roots, are picked and placed into boxes. his song laments the people unable take their homeland with them wherever they’d like, like the violets. with nowruz, the new year that starts tomorrow, i think of these boxes, which are sold as decorations during this time, and of the palestinians.

listening to this song, i realized how similar the symbol of violets in this song are to palestinian keys. after the 1948 nakba, many palestinians kept the keys to their homes with the hope that they may one day return. similarly, the violets symbolize the pain of being separated from your homeland, while also serving as a reminder of where someone comes from. and despite the pain they may cause, these violets are a beautiful reminder of spring and the coming new year.

the woman in this illustration is wearing a thobe with gazan tatreez, one of the symbols of palestine. her pose, with her hands behind her back, mirrors handala’s, another symbol of palestinian identity. however, unlike handala, she faces the viewer, almost confronting them. in her hands she holds a violet and a key. surrounding her is an olive tree, a symbol of palestinian’s connection to their land.