"A Bird in Love" by Shadi Torab

I first met Shadi at my current job as an architect for our in-house architectural firm.  Shadi and I both love Japanese food so we often went across the street to Tokyo Express to grab a bite to eat during lunch and share our life stories.  At a lunch outing, she said, "Ask me about my culture, about Iran."  I was taken aback at first, but I understood.  All of us have some pre-conceived notions about how a certain culture is.  Thinking of Iran, I imagine a woman shrouded in black with only slivers of her eyes showing a hint of self with a limited amount of freedom to walk around in public or interact with people of opposite sex.  Shadi told me that my assumption was not entirely wrong but that my notion of that woman's dress applies only to a small population of Iranian women who are a part of certain strict religious sector and my notion of the woman's freedom outdated.  Shadi explained that Iranian women are very educated, a majority attends universities, and they wore very colorful and beautiful dresses and veils but are not required to cover their faces.  She also relayed that Iranian women have more freedom, the country and its culture less restrict than in the years prior to 2000 (I based my assumption on a fiction book read 15 years ago, how naive!).  I treasured our lunch conversations.  Since last Friday was Shadi's last day at our company, I will sorely miss her beautiful, calm and enlightening personality.  One afternoon, I mentioned to her about my literary blog and found out that Shadi also had a blog she writes: http://hozche.blogspot.com/.  Taken from her blog, here is a poem written by Shadi, posting here with her blessing, so enjoy!

“A bird in love”

The one that blows your mind away,
The one that makes your heart play…

You cannot concentrate,
On a single thing you do,
You cannot participate,
In a single discussion you go through…

You hear his voice, his laugh and his words,
You see his face, his smile and his toes,
And you lose your mind, your body and your soul…

You want to become a bird to fly by his house,
You want to become wind to touch his hands,
You want to become water to kiss his lips,
You want to become a fallen leaf,
To feel his weight on your veins,
You want to just disappear,
And get reborn in his soul…

You wait and wait til’ he talks,
Wait and wait til’ he laughs,
Wait and wait til’ he goes,
Away and away and far away…

A “bird in love” sings and sings,
No one knows what she sings,
No one knows what she wants,
No one knows where she flies,

A “bird in love” sings and sings,
Until the day she dies….and dies…
That is the day she flies to skies.

And somewhere far,
Far and away,
where the wind blows,
where the water flows,
where the leaf rolls and rolls,
until it hits the grounds,
He walks and wonders,
what a lovely fall,
why the bird cries?