By Nasrin Parvaz
Nasrin wrote this poem or, Mahmuft Yamalak, the translator of her prison memoir, who’s been in prison in Turkey for 32 years. Nasrin spent 8 years in prison and her book is called: “One Woman’s Struggle in Iran: A Prison Memoir.”
I hope it gave you some comfort
I see you
hunched over a book
translating, line by line
word by word.
You wander
morning till night
flying over mountains
swimming in rivers
to reach a soul
across different borders.
You arrive
in a cell
in a different country
as a different gender
you become the writer
of the book.
You’ve been locked up
for three decades
a whole lifetime still
to go.
You jolt
as she hears
the sound of the firing squad
killing her friends.
One day at dusk
you finish your task
you close the book
for the first time.
I can see the cover –
it’s my book.
I hope translating it
gave you some comfort.
Nasrin Parvaz
For, Mahmut Yamalak, the translator of my prison memoir, who’s been in prison in Turkey for 32 years.
