From the last thin pages
of the paper calendar
lying in the corner of the table
one could already sense it—
the grieving heart of the year
restless
for the turning of the year,
for its surrender
to the new one.
In the air
of these hopeless days
perhaps a Haft-Seen
must be arranged again—
not of apples and sweetness,
but of a shared sorrow.
Perhaps of
the hidden frost of the soul,
the dark ceiling of the sky,
the burning wound
of time’s madness,
a poplar tree
still standing
yet reddened with blood,
a withered song
upon trembling lips,
the unbelieving grief
of mothers,
and cruelty raining down
from every corner
upon the defenseless body
of this land.
And there—
on the chest of the room’s wall—
the brand-new paper calendar
already weary
of all this waiting,
gazing quietly
toward the moment
when the ill-fated year
will finally end.
Arsalan – Wiesbaden
13 March 2026
Note:
Haft-Seen is a traditional table arranged during Nowruz, the Persian New Year celebrated at the spring equinox. The table usually holds seven symbolic items whose names begin with the Persian letter “S”, representing life, renewal, and hope. In this poem, however, the traditional symbols are replaced with images of collective grief and hardship. The poem reflects the emotional tension of the moment of the year’s turning, when the old year ends and a new one begins—a moment that, in Persian culture, carries both deep cultural meaning and the hope for renewal.
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