14 DAYS – 14 POEMS
I made this durational artwork as part of the “19 Acts of COVID-19 Bravery” online exhibition: https://actsofbravery.thepeoplemovers.co/ You can see all the videos of my poetry performances on the festival website, added one at a time every night for the 14 nights duration of the performance.
Artist’s Manifesto: I will write one poem every day for fourteen consecutive days, while sheltering in place at my apartment in Santa Barbara during the COVID-19 pandemic. I will read the poem and record myself every night in a different spot inside the landscape of my apartment. I will then release the video online at midnight. Fourteen days allude to the incubation period of this disease, as well as the mandatory quarantine time if exposed to the virus. I will not step out of my apartment in the 14 days duration of the performance. In Persian culture and poetry, the full moon is also referred to as “the Moon of the Fourteenth Night.” I will begin my durational performance on the night of the new moon, reaching with every poem towards the fourteen-night-moon.
#BecomingThe14thMoon
Night 7 Poem: “A Poem Half-Full of Moon”
“نیمی پر از ماه”
…شششششش
گوش کن
گوش کن، با این سکوت که می گوید چشمانم با تو
به شب هنگام
ماه را که می نگری
سکوت گمشده را تقسیم کن با او
ماه به نیم‌اش نزدیک میشود
—
Shhhhh
Listen
Listen to the black silence in my eyes
Tonight when you see the moon
Look her in the eye
And split with her
the secret silence
of the night
The half-moon is shining in the sky
————————————————————————————–
Night 9 Poem: “One Night, in My Bowl”
“شبی در یک لیوان”
در آن لیوان
در آنکه میرقصد ماه
موج میشود هوای خندیدن هات
ماه را میگذارم
بر لب
با لیوان
—
In the water
In the moon dancing
In a bowl
The waves of your laughter fade away to the moon
I drink the moon with the bowl
————————————————————————————–
Night 13 Poem: “Hello, Prisoner” – English Version
Hello Prisoner, I say
Tonight I’ll pick
A fresh stem of moon
From the sky
As if glides
Across the windows
In my quarantine
Hello prisoner, I say
These doors, too
Shall open, one day
Till then
As a loan
Keep the moon
In a frame
That i carved
from the clouds
————————————————————————————–
Night 14 (Last Night): “She, Naked”
“او، برهنه”
از خانهٔ شب آماده بود او
پا برهنه
تنها
با پیاله‌ای شراب در چشمانش
آمده بود امشب
تا بعد چهارده روز
چهارده ماه
چهارده قرن، شاید
در کاسه‌ای از آب
در یک اقیانوس
که زمان در آن معنا ندارد و حجم
دکمه بگشاید از پیرهن صورتیش
و با صورتی گرد
عریان
چون ماه
چون آینه
ابدیتی را بسازد
در دل دریائی دور
در تاریکنای شب
نور بپاشد در نور
با براده هایی از ستاره
“She, Naked”
She came
From the house of night
Alone
Barefoot
With a glass of wine in her eyes
She came tonight
After fourteen days
Fourteen months
Fourteen years, maybe
Where time has no place
In a bowl
In an ocean
In the yearning of the well
To unbutton her strawberry dress
And with a round face, naked
Like the moon
Like the mirror
To make an eternity
In the heart of the sea
She came
To splash light in light
And pour the stars
Into fireworks
In the silky night
————————————————————————————–
