To Neda's mother and all the mothers who have lost their children

Shirin Tabibzadeh

You saw her leaving
On that fateful day
With a heavy heart
You bid her farewell
You fell on your knees
After she was gone
Praying with all your soul
And all your might

You felt so feeble
Your heart pounding
Your knees shuddering
Like the twigs of a weeping willow
Shaken by a vagabond wind
Your ears to the news
Your mind disrupt
Your eyes seeing nothing
As if you had lost your eye-sight

Something was in the air
You didn't know what
Something ominous
Something dire
It was hard to spell it out
But you knew it
In your heart's heart

The phone suddenly rang
You jumped like a spring
Oh God, it was her
Telling you she will be home
Then and there
And begging you
Not to worry about her

Thank you, thank you
Oh, thank you God
You repeated constantly
While your ears were hooked
To hearing the screech
Of her car
She will be home soon
She will be home

But she never came
You called her at least
A hundred times
But no response
Your knees were bent again
Your forehead on the ground
Begging God
To keep her unharmed
But it didn't happen that way
Hundreds of butterflies
Were flapping their wings
In your heart and mind

You were the last
To hear the news
It was as if
At that moment
Your heart literally broke
You were frozen
Your blood seemed to stop
Flowing to your heart

You screamed, you wailed
There were no consolations
To your grief and your pain

Life goes on
You lost your child
Granted, it is so awfully hard
But her picture will be sealed
At the center
Of our history
I have no doubt
And her beautiful face
Eternally
In the heart of a nation
Will be carved