Amu Zanjir Baff¹

The sun was setting
while the children sang
and played in the dusty streets.
The little fragile bodies with long hair
and pleated skirts or in shorts
with dirty hands and feet
waited for the last child
to finish the song and the game
before they could run to their homes.

Amu Zanjir Baff... Zanjire mano bafti²?

When the last child was done,
before they could break free
of the circle,
they saw a shadow of a man:

Uncle, who made the chains,
came far taller than the children's expectations.
He came far taller and suddenly bent
to cut the arteries
of all those who were playing
in the circle.

A fresh set of eyes fell
and his attack was a weighed
on the anvil of their lives.

Rock after rock after rock
they threw through the blood-hot air
but their defense was aborted
by the butcher of their youth
who sliced the flesh and dreams
of their childhood.

What a pity that the keepers
at the gate of their youth
had died of consumption,
for the slaughter intoxicated Uncle,
and joyful from his dreadful act,
he cut the life from the last child.

¹Amu Zanjir Baf: Uncle, who makes chainlets is a famous children game-song in Iran
²Zanjire mano bafti: Did you make the chainlets?