Sweat On My Spine Poem by Nassy Fesharaki

Sweat on my spine

Times and times, I sat down
Kept my head in my palms
And decided to talk…

How can I?

Open mouth, speak of
My growth in a village
With no path of asphalt.

It is hard,
Quite hard,

It makes me remember
My ever-best friend
Russian girl.

To teach me Russian she
Transferred or made up
Fact, fictitious stories.

"Old ladies were in farm,
Saw German Nazis come,
Were afraid and shivered,
Neared the intruders
And Russians gave answer
As they thought were correct."

With their tongues different
Neither was satisfied…

In Russian, woman said:
Is "тупой? Глухой? "

Soon after, deaf and dumb
Among them meant German.

Is hard to tell someone
With tablet and cellphone:
"In village, had donkeys
But never metal-smiths."

For changing show of beast
The owner had to leave
To place where made shoes.

Then there was no timing,
Appointment and booking.

The owner packed and left
With enough food, water.

Evening, late at night
He might reach, to call on
The master of shoes, nails.

He could face a message:
"His wife is sick and he
Had to go to the city…"

To him there was no way
But to ride and return!

This, to kids of today
Is funny, stupid…

The same is telling them
Of me and revolution.

"I was an officer,
Flew, for the government
But hated corruption
And thefts, embezzlement,
So, helped the opposition…"

As soon as open mouth
Study them, most sides
See me as betrayer.

They only know mullahs,
Since never were involved,
Always talk, complain
From those seen by eyes,
And enlarge Shahanshah.

What do youths and elders
In open or secret,
We did in time of shah.

They expose the mullahs
With did so with late shah.

I flew base to base
Logistic for soldiers
I witnessed, in anger
Gringos' treatment…

Koh-i-Noor in crown!

Out went all the pallets,
Discrepancies, Hercules,
Ltd was fridge in Hanger,
Our soldiers' meat in sun,
Chilled Gringos' beer…

My money, my peoples'
And demons respected?

This grew hate of them
One by one, all of them
And shah's government,
Uncle Tom of our days!

We lifted our soldiers
To Oman, Salaleh
For fighting communists
Made by the Capitalists.

The Fact-book, CIA's
Washington, Pentagon
Have never been correct.

Everything around us
Was mount and pile of
The lies "USA & Friends, "
I hated all of them
And their dog that bit us!

Britain of Lawrence
Had a base in Sharjah,
For three centuries,
And could not afford it.

If Brits, shah's master
Were truly friends
Would sign on the papers:
"It belongs to Persia."

But look at the fact how
It worked, and still shah
Served US as their dog.

In Nineteen-Seventy
They cut our Province.

Turned Bahrain to State.

All borders around us
Are approved by dog-shah!

Angry like wounded
Cheetah, tiger, lion,
I joined the opposition.

Went to mosque, Kan city,
Mullah was Morvarid,
He preached and later
Came up with slogans.

I felt like virgin girl
First time and being raped,
So, shouted: "Down with shah."

Felt bubbles of sweat
From pores of flesh
Rolling down on spine.

See blood on sleeves
Of kids with injuries,
How can I talk of me?