3 poems by Mansour Noorbakhsh

For Mahsa Amini

There is a sign for life 
and for death too.

In the midst of the chaos of Death preachers and the silence of us, the victims. 
The bruise of your eye is a sign
that you had known the life. 
You crossed the fearful border of silence 
to leave the chaos of death. 

And your bruise is a sign
for me this time and every time 
to look deeply for the sign of life in myself.

There is a sign for death 
as for life too. 

منصور نوربخش
برای مهسا امینی
زندگی را نشانه ای است
و مرگ را نیز. 

در میانه غوغای چاوشان مرگ
و سکوت ما وهم زدگان
چشم و صورت کبود تو نشانه ای بود
که زندگی را می شناختی. 
تو از مرز پر واهمه سکوت گذشتی
برای وانهادن غوغای چاوشان مرگ. 

و چشم و صورت کبود تو 
نشانه ای است
تا من دوباره و هرباره 
نشانه های زیستن را در خود بجویم. 

مردن را نشانه ای است
همچنانکه زیستن را. 

forbidden fruit
A response to the terrorist attack against Salman Rushdie

pick the forbidden fruit up
even if modern slavery 
whether religious or materialist 
advertises a forever heaven 
and teaches to ignore a garden 
planted by a storm 

we all were from the mass graves
though our graves have been separated 
by barbed wires,
each mass grave on one side of that

but still, we can sing,
barbed wires never separate the songs

you know a barbed wire 
only grows nothingness 
and only protects hunger and fear

let’s dip our hands in the stormy waves
to make our shaky reflection
shakier, with courage
until the waves raise 
from our hands to our eyes

a tide, a storm 
to ruin our illusive heaven
before planting our storm garden

slavery never resides in forbidden fruit





A cup of kisses

A cup of kisses. 
A pavilion of solitude. 
I start loving myself,
When your dream survives from 
this loneliness of everyday crowd.

Amidst this alone bustle 
I buy a ticket to departure
toward a poem.
A seat of cuddles. 

Tell the clock to repeat your name 
when it chimes for annunciation. 
That’s the only time the commotion fades. 

If the trace of your gaze 
marks on the edge of my cup
suffices me to leave this anxious station 
toward survival.

Return to Journal

Mansour Noorbakhsh writes poems and stories in both English and Farsi, his first language, and has published books, poems, and articles in both languages. His book length poem, In Search of Shared Wishes, is published in 2017. He tries to be a voice for freedom, human rights, and environment in his writings. He presents The Contemporary Canadian Poets in a weekly Persian radio program. Mansour’s poems are published in WordCity Literary Journal, Verse Afire, Parkland Poets, several anthologies, and other places. His poems are translated in Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Serbian, Macedonian, and Chinese. Mansour Noorbakhsh is an Electrical Engineer, and lives with his wife, his daughter and his son in Toronto, Canada. Mansour is WordCity Literary Journal’s Poet in Residence.

WordCity Literary Journal is provided free to readers from all around the world, and there is no cost to writers submitting their work. Substantial time and expertise goes into each issue, and if you would like to contribute to those efforts, and the costs associated with maintaining this site, we thank you for your support.