پدر پدران – بیست‌و‌یک شعر برای پدرم / مجید نفیسی (۳)

The Father of Fathers

        Twenty-One Poems for My Father

Three.

Red earmuffs

by

Majid Naficy

I saw my red earmuffs again.

I was sitting on Big Blue Bus

With my son Azad

Coming back home from school.

It was raining outside

And the wind shook palm trees.

He opened his folder

And showed his homework:

“Three scarfs

Two hats

Four gloves

And one ear…whatever it is.”

An old man in the front seat

Turned back his head and said: “earmuffs.”

My son had to color them

And count each group separately.

The bus was filled with words

And the windows grew foggy.

When I lived in Isfahan

My father gave me a pair of earmuffs

As a souvenir from his trip to America.

I was in the “turret” room

Watching the snow by the window.

He opened his eyes wide

And covered his ears with two hands 

Howling like a wolf in the snow.

The earmuffs were soft and cozy

Red on the outside and white inside

With a green headpiece in between.

Friday mornings, we went to Mount Sofa.

The snow was everywhere.

Father put on a sheepskin Caucasian cap

And I wore my red earmuffs.

We passed big bolders

And sat by a trickling spring

To have our breakfast.

Father brought red Istanbul potatoes

And Dr. Khalili, sour cherry jam.

After breakfast, Mr. Varzandeh wiped his mouth

With his worn-out tie.

We leaned back against a bolder

To watch the city skyline

While Father smoked his once-a-week cigarette.

At night when Azad was asleep

I opened his folder.

He had colored the earmuffs red,

All red.

January 6, 1994

Poems

۱: Sword at the Ablution Pool, ۲:  In Temescal Canyon, ۳: Red earmuffs