The Street of Dolphins
How I wish the sea would come
visit the streets of Kabul and bring
all its fish, no matter what their color.
How I wish the sea would rebel and divert
its dolphins to our street, so that
it becomes the Avenue of Dolphins.
How I wish a big sea would rush
into the streets of Kabul and force
the warlords to swim away.
How I wish the city of Kabul would sink
with the years and all the dams go under
and seaweed grow from among tanks,
hang from the house’s tall windows,
and dance among tables and chairs of the restaurants
in our submerged neighborhood.
How I wish from the very beginning
of our ancient past, schools of playful
small fish zipped in and out of our windows.
How I wish our sisters were mermaids
and dolphins bore children
instead of our mothers.
کوچه دلفین ها
ای کاش به جاده های کابل
دریایی بیاید
با ماهیانی که رنگ شان اصلن مهم نیست
ای کاش دریایی
رم کند و به اجبار
دلفین ها را به کوچه ما بیاورد
و کوچه ما بشود
کوچه دلفین ها
ای کاش به جاده های کابل
دریایی بزرگ بیاید
تا جنگجویان
مجبور شوند
شنا کنان
شهر ما را ترک کنند
ای کاش شهر کابل، سال های بعد
زیر آب فرو برود و سده ها زیر آب باشد
و خزه ها آویزان شوند
از پنجره های بلند منزل ها
از میل تانک ها
از میز و چوکی های رستورانت ها
و تکان بخورند
از نسیمی که در محله ما زیر آب شده است
ای کاش ازهمان روزگاران قدیم
رمه ماهیان کوچک بازیگوش
در پنجره خانه ما
در رفت و آمد بودند
ای کاش خواهران ما
پری های دریایی بودند
و به جای مادران ما
دلفین ها باردار می شدند
///
MUJIB MEHRDAD is a poet and journalist from Afghanistan. He is the author of the poetry collections Gladiators Are Still Dying (2007) The Fishes Have Fled Our Veins (2008), and Audience (2009). His Dolphins Alley has won the Ahmad Shamlou Literary Award for poetry (2021).
SHOLEH WOLPÉ is an Iranian-American poet, playwright and librettist. Her most recent book is Abacus of Loss: A Memoir in Verse. She is the Writer-In-Residence at UCI and divides her time between Los Angeles and Barcelona. sholehwolpe.com
HEATHER HUA, born in 1996, is a multidimensional artist in illustration, comics, and animation. Born in Zhejiang, China, and higher educated in the US, Hua is fluent in Chinese, English, and Japanese. She graduated from Fashion Institute of Technology in 2021 with an MFA in illustration and holds a BA in Economics from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Currently, she is based in Los Angeles and working as a freelance illustrator.
