عشق آمریکایی من (سی‌و‌دو.  سالگرد در رم)

My American Love

        Thirty-Two Poems for Wendy

Thirty-Two.

Anniversary in Rome

        By Majid Naficy

We go to Rome

To celebrate our twentieth anniversary

In the  Mithraeum.* 

Walking there, 

We stop by a tavern

And order Aperol Spritzes.

Outside the window

A pair of doves

Is making love.

Toast to the doves!

Toast to the doves!

Toast to us!

Tomorrow we go to morning service

When Papa Francis

Releases his doves.

But now we must get to the Mithraeum

To learn the mystery of love

From the Persian Mithra.

        November 8, 2019

* Mithraeum was the temple of Mithras in the Roman Empire. Roman Mithras originated from the Persian Mithra, the God of friendship and contract.

POEMS: 1. On the Bridge, ۲. I Hope the Water Returns, ۳. Empty Baskets ۴. Coffee Maker ۵. Anxious Heart ۶. Washing ۷. Bougainvillea ۸. Simple Truth ۹. Persian-Singing Bird ۱۰. The Gardener ۱۱. Lost Cypresses ۱۲. Visiting the Wall ۱۳. Is Love a Glass of Hormones? ۱۴. Independence Day ۱۵:  Oh, Pain ۱۶. The Season of Picking Raspberries ۱۷. Who Is More Envied? ۱۸. Watching Baseball ۱۹. A Night in Calistoga ۲۰. Dreaming “High Noon” ۲۱. I Do Not Write Poetry for Eternity ۲۲. Our Footprints in Maui ۲۳. Bay to Breakers ۲۴. The Altar of Poetry ۲۵. Dublin ۲۶. Watching the Snow with Wendy ۲۷. George Habash Sandwich ۲۸. Morning Blend ۲۹. Stroke ۳۰. Mating Dove ۳۱. In or Out of Love? ۳۲.  Anniversary in Rome