می روم که آب بیاورم

I Go to Get Water

By Majid Naficy

For Nahid

I go to get water
With a container in one hand
And a quarter in the other.

I stop by the high wall of Payless
In front of the empty parking lot,
Put the coin in the vending machine
And hold the water container
Under the spigot.
I hear the sound of a murmuring stream
Chirping sparrows in the trees
And village girls with colorful dresses
Who are sitting next to each other
filling their jars with cold water
From a nearby spring.
Wasn t it there that for the first time
I saw my tall and graceful Anahita?*
She was walking down the spring trail
And when her eyes met my gaze
She lowered her long eyelashes.

The vending machine is staring at me
I take my water container
Cross the empty parking lot
And walk back home.
Will the lady of waters open the door for me?
October 15, 1998



*- Anahita or Nahid: Goddess of waters in old Persia.
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