I Know How to be in Love

By Lyrikline Collaboration Poets

Published 9 November 2023

By Mohammad Hossein Abedi
Translated by Laetitia Nanquette and Ali Alizadeh

I know how to be in love,

but I have forgotten

that at times one must laugh in the face of the sea.

The waves, they do not look at our anguish,

and, you know, as if I could forget

this is not the place to frown.

In the middle of love’s trials,

I carry in my hands

the masterpiece by the greatest artist of this harbour.

Later, my tears

remind you of this.

This year

all the women of this harbour

wish to keep their men close

with charms and lament and hope.

I know how to be in love.

If you could keep your tears on that side of the harbour

and close your eyes and never wish

to count the corpses on the water,

the corpses of this harbour that I have carried

I fear could destroy me.

I have thrown away the old charms

so that the women of this harbour

might create a new one,

take the masterpiece away from me,

take away the corpses.

I will look at the water

and whisper softly:

No enchantment is sacred

No death is sacred

No corpse floats on the water

No harbour exists without women

No corpse floats on the water

No enchantment is sacred

I know how to be in love.