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raz_daram's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
Sepehri’s verse is made up of the same matter that makes up a life well lived — love, flowers, bird, feelings, travel, loss and triumph. His irony and metaphor are subtle but deeply resonant.
Personally I would translate some of the lines differently but otherwise gold. Great for anyone looking for an introduction to Sepehri’s poetry in English.
Personally I would translate some of the lines differently but otherwise gold. Great for anyone looking for an introduction to Sepehri’s poetry in English.
lauren_endnotes's review against another edition
5.0
"Life should not be unmoving in our mind like a jar on the habit-shelf, just another little task of the things to do.
Life is like the hand that aches
to pluck June's not-yet-ripe figs.
Life is like washing a dish.
Like finding silver coins shining in the gutter.
Earth multipled by our heartbeats.
The simple geometry of breath.
Wherever I am, let me be there."
"Let's forget about everything.
Let's pitch our tent on the the other side of the hill of Knowing.
Wash our hands in the leaf's green ecstasy and prepare the picnic.
Let's be reborn when the sun dawns.
Let's unleash everything."
~Selections from "Water's Footfall" by Sohrab Sepehri, tr. from the Persian (Iran) by Kazim Ali and Mohammed Jafar Mahallati / featured in THE OASIS OF NOW: Selected Poems of Sohrab Sepehri, 2013 by BOA Editions.
Sepehri's long-form nature-infused poem "Water's Footfall" was a complete joy to read. This poem is about one-third of the book, and is intoxicating: Sufi mysticism fused with forest bathing and meditation.
Short pieces make up the rest of this collection. Equally beautiful and evocative in theme, bit for me, the long lyric was the favorite. Looking forward to reading more by this well-known Iranian 20th-century poet and artist.
Life is like the hand that aches
to pluck June's not-yet-ripe figs.
Life is like washing a dish.
Like finding silver coins shining in the gutter.
Earth multipled by our heartbeats.
The simple geometry of breath.
Wherever I am, let me be there."
"Let's forget about everything.
Let's pitch our tent on the the other side of the hill of Knowing.
Wash our hands in the leaf's green ecstasy and prepare the picnic.
Let's be reborn when the sun dawns.
Let's unleash everything."
~Selections from "Water's Footfall" by Sohrab Sepehri, tr. from the Persian (Iran) by Kazim Ali and Mohammed Jafar Mahallati / featured in THE OASIS OF NOW: Selected Poems of Sohrab Sepehri, 2013 by BOA Editions.
Sepehri's long-form nature-infused poem "Water's Footfall" was a complete joy to read. This poem is about one-third of the book, and is intoxicating: Sufi mysticism fused with forest bathing and meditation.
Short pieces make up the rest of this collection. Equally beautiful and evocative in theme, bit for me, the long lyric was the favorite. Looking forward to reading more by this well-known Iranian 20th-century poet and artist.