Darya Saudade

“I am with you, rafēgh (comrade)
By Siavash Kasrai
Translation: Darya Saudade
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I am with you, rafēgh (comrade),
in wherever you are and struggle.

I am your neighbor
when, beside the window in the evening's gaze,
you hum the people’s anthem to yourself.

I walk in step with you
when, devoted to anxiety and eagerness,
you hand out a nightly leaflet to every passerby in the alley,
with the ring of every word,
you awaken
a heart,
a city, a whole homeland.

I am with you
when among the people,
like a restless fish in water,
you slide and come and seek,
and warn the sleeping of the flood coming.

I work alongside you
when the body is worn out from work,
but, in the fields, the factories,
you keep working,
you keep working.

I am your fellow-sufferer
when with the caress of your hands
you beckon the child to patience,
as if awakening a bud from its slumber

I am your fellow inmate
when you fill the dragging moments
with forgotten memories
in the corner of your confinement
or in the fever of torture and the throes of anguish.

No, my soulmate, my comrade, no,
I won’t leave you alone,
when at an unknown dawn
you sacrifice
your life
for ideals and love.

I am with you, rafēgh,
I am with you, rafēgh,
In wherever I am and struggle.
In wherever you are and struggle.”
― Siavash Kasrai