By Mehrdad Mehrju
It is a tale of woe—
headlines scream
of the empty ice cream van,
of ruthless invaders,
of stubborn zealots, wage slaves,
who tremble and scream to make blood,
who fight against the Sun God,
against the light,
against the girl, against happiness.
Yet the girl tasted vanilla
in a SaadatAbad café,
sparked a dream that now
her voice flares up on the streets—
a voice that was once a soft melody
in the bloom of dusk,
now it trembles in whispers
against the van’s dark heart.
Her voice resounds,
where every shadow
carries the echo of her dream.
Mehrdad Mehrju is an Iranian poet and writer. Due to his experiences living in various cultures, he can speak and write poetry in multiple languages. He has written poetry for nearly three decades and is a well-known figure in contemporary Iranian poetry. His poetry books have been published in Pakistan, in Afghanistan during the first Taliban era, and in his native Iran. He is now studying International Business at QUT.
