I will come and bring a message.
Into veins I will cast light,
And call out, “O you whose baskets are full of dreams!”
I have brought you an apple, the red apple of the Sun.
I will come to offer the beggar a lilac flower.
I will give the lovely leprous woman a pair of earrings.
To the blind I will tell: “How scenic the garden is!”
I will become a peddler, roam the alleyways,
and cry out, “Dews, dews, dews.”
A passer-by will say, “How dark tonight is.”
To him I will give a galaxy.
There, on the bridge, is a crippled little girl.
Round her neck I will hang the Great Bear.
All lips I will purge from whatever obscenities.
All walls I will destruct.
The bandits, I will tell: “A caravan is arriving, their belongings are Smile.”
I will tear up the clouds.
I will graft the eyes onto the sun, the hearts onto love,
the shadows onto water, and the branches onto wind.
And I will unite the sleeping baby to the murmur of crickets.
I will fly kites.
I will water the flowerpots.
Before horses and cows,
I will put green grass of love.
For a thirsty mare I will bring a bucket of dews.
The decrepit ass on the way,
I will repel the flies off its body.
I will plant carnations on every wall.
I will sing a verse to every window.
I will give a pine tree to each crow.
To the snake I will tell: “How glorious the frog is!”
I will reconcile.
I will acquaint.
I will walk on.
I will drink light.
Translated from a Persian poem by Sohrab Sepehri