Islamic Republic security forces entered the home of Iran's satirical poet, Seyyed Mohammad Reza Aali Payam, aka Haloo and confiscated his computer and writings and took him away on Tuesday 14th August.
Haloo is yet another popular Iranian poet who has been arrested in recent times. The arrest happened after the recent earthquake in NW Iran, when Haloo derided the regime's pre-occupation with other causes and the apathy the regime showed for the people of Iran, by writing this couplet in his blog:
Who says we are an untroubled government?
We always care for the problems of the Arab people
Don't keep going on about the earthquake in Ahar
For right now Damascus and Aleppo are our trouble
Haloo also announced on his blog, one day before his arrest, that the Amirkabir Literary Society, where many of Iran's poets recited their poetry to the enthusiast audiences, had been shut down by the security apparatus.
Almost ten days later after Haloo was taken away, there is no news of his whereabouts.
Below is one of his poetry recitals at the Amirkabir Poetry Society, where he is reading one of his masterpieces, "Cowards"
Why is the Guidance Ministry so scared of women's hair?
What is so scary about the flowing hair in the wind?
Put on dark clothes, brown or black
For they are scared of bright and happy colours
They destroy the remnants of our ancient civilisation
For they fear from what will remind us of the past
In Yasuj they fear the statue of Aryobarzan and his sword
[referring to the regime bringing down the statue of pre-Islamic Iranian hero, Aryobarzan]
And in Sari they tremble from the statue of Arash
The same way the Taliban feared from the statue of Buddha
"Our Friend", is also scared of stone, plaster and steel
You have to only kiss his hands and say Yes Sir, Yes Sir,
For he shivers from things like thought, logic and talent
Look the other way and pretend you didn't comprehend
For he fears anyone who has caught on
He is scared of the redness of the flower and the greenness of its leaf
He fears that tall cedar that is resolutely standing its ground
Not only he fears our sharp tongues and our able minds
He is startled by the rebellious aroma of the stews we cook
Then he interrupts his poem and say please remember this poetry is meant for Yemen, don't think I am referring to anyone in Iran! then he continues:
There was a time when he was scared of large crowds
But now he is scared of each single one of us
The same person whose trait is shouting and hurling insults
is so scared when we too want to shout
Strike your blows on our heads and bodies
My dear, when was the mountain bothered by Farhad's axe?
Gone are those days when the gazelle ran away from the hunters
Today each hunter trembles at seeing his own shadow
The dove flies along with the swallow
and the owl fears that it has lost its reputation
There was a time that he who knew, shirked from sticks and truncheons
But now the club fears the heads that understands
Salmon does not fear the fisherman's net no more
Now its the net and the hook that fear the salmon
The pine trees no longer fear the ax and the sickle
For today, its the ax that fears the tallness of the Pine tree
Gone are those days of fear my dear, today its the monsters
Who run away from the children of this ruined land
And I wonder if the day will come
Where this reversal will go on
and it will be the mother-in-law who fears her son-in-law
Laugh my countryman, laugh aloud, These laughters are a thorn
in the eyes of those who fear these happy hearts
Haloo is yet another popular Iranian poet who has been arrested in recent times. The arrest happened after the recent earthquake in NW Iran, when Haloo derided the regime's pre-occupation with other causes and the apathy the regime showed for the people of Iran, by writing this couplet in his blog:
Who says we are an untroubled government?
We always care for the problems of the Arab people
Don't keep going on about the earthquake in Ahar
For right now Damascus and Aleppo are our trouble
Haloo also announced on his blog, one day before his arrest, that the Amirkabir Literary Society, where many of Iran's poets recited their poetry to the enthusiast audiences, had been shut down by the security apparatus.
Almost ten days later after Haloo was taken away, there is no news of his whereabouts.
Below is one of his poetry recitals at the Amirkabir Poetry Society, where he is reading one of his masterpieces, "Cowards"
Why is the Guidance Ministry so scared of women's hair?
What is so scary about the flowing hair in the wind?
Put on dark clothes, brown or black
For they are scared of bright and happy colours
They destroy the remnants of our ancient civilisation
For they fear from what will remind us of the past
In Yasuj they fear the statue of Aryobarzan and his sword
[referring to the regime bringing down the statue of pre-Islamic Iranian hero, Aryobarzan]
And in Sari they tremble from the statue of Arash
The same way the Taliban feared from the statue of Buddha
"Our Friend", is also scared of stone, plaster and steel
You have to only kiss his hands and say Yes Sir, Yes Sir,
For he shivers from things like thought, logic and talent
Look the other way and pretend you didn't comprehend
For he fears anyone who has caught on
He is scared of the redness of the flower and the greenness of its leaf
He fears that tall cedar that is resolutely standing its ground
Not only he fears our sharp tongues and our able minds
He is startled by the rebellious aroma of the stews we cook
Then he interrupts his poem and say please remember this poetry is meant for Yemen, don't think I am referring to anyone in Iran! then he continues:
There was a time when he was scared of large crowds
But now he is scared of each single one of us
The same person whose trait is shouting and hurling insults
is so scared when we too want to shout
Strike your blows on our heads and bodies
My dear, when was the mountain bothered by Farhad's axe?
Gone are those days when the gazelle ran away from the hunters
Today each hunter trembles at seeing his own shadow
The dove flies along with the swallow
and the owl fears that it has lost its reputation
There was a time that he who knew, shirked from sticks and truncheons
But now the club fears the heads that understands
Salmon does not fear the fisherman's net no more
Now its the net and the hook that fear the salmon
The pine trees no longer fear the ax and the sickle
For today, its the ax that fears the tallness of the Pine tree
Gone are those days of fear my dear, today its the monsters
Who run away from the children of this ruined land
And I wonder if the day will come
Where this reversal will go on
and it will be the mother-in-law who fears her son-in-law
Laugh my countryman, laugh aloud, These laughters are a thorn
in the eyes of those who fear these happy hearts
2 comments:
Like I've often said before: Any power that is afraid of simple words, need only one word applied to it: Dictatorship! Of course had Haloo been a poet arrested in Bahrain, the dripping political hypocrisy of the Iranian Regime would've been exploiting such evil faces of oppression for all it was worth! And yet of course Khamenei's black shirts always slip under the radar when it comes to the global media properly tackling the Iranian Regime's theocratic Gestapo agenda!
A woman's hair is a part of her sexuality , clerics & mullahs Regime supporters find this threatening, why covered heads?, Burka?, repression of their own weakness by suppressing female Freedoms, They see wickedness in themselves and their brand of Theological ideology, in believing they are corrupted by the natural order, they limit others choice to repress/reduce their own concept of corruption. Out of sight out of mind, doesn't work well. @ElCidBarett on Twitter.
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