After “On Loving” by Forugh Farrokhzad
Tonight from prying eyes,
razors descend upon this poem.
My mind struggles to survive
the betrayal of my hand.
My virginal, naive poem,
dictated by its desires,
follows a string of ignorant men
with restless, greedy fingers.
Yes—so shame begins
on the road not known but learned.
It is not on any map, for there
is no treasure to be earned.
Why shun beauty?
A rose dragged by the stem
is no less a rose when plucked
of its petals and shorn of thorns.
Let me lose myself, here,
on this page—let sage
wisdom lead my courage
like wildflowers picked at dusk.
I do not wish to be wrapped
like an invalid or child.
I have fought too hard and for too long
to let my resolve grow mild.
Do you know what I want in life?
For this poem to travel and roost,
like a raven following moonlight—
never longing for too long.
Concealed in my poem is a grave
of memories that have grown stale—
they no longer have the power to
lacerate my hope and blind my will.
I am no longer filled with shame.
The ink in my voice, black as sin,
now etched in my skin, tells
the story that pulses within.
I am no longer filled with shame.
I do not bury my head in the crook
of my arm when I think of the times
I have fallen from grace.
Yes—so shame ends,
on the road not known but learned.
It is not on any map, for there
is no treasure to be earned.
Melineh Yemenidjian, a poet based in the United States, is a member of the Community Literacy Initiative (CLI) and serves on the International Armenian Literary Association (IALA) poetry committee aimed to support and celebrate emerging writers. She performs regularly at open mics and her poetry has appeared on public television and in Armenian Weekly, 99andcounting, VoiceCatcher, HyeBred Magazine, and multiple spotlights in h-pem, an Armenian literary journal. She is currently compiling a manuscript due in June 2025.
Featured image by Art Lasovsky on Unsplash.
