By Bijan Najdi, translated from Persian by Davood Jalili
The world does not become bitter with the sword.
It does not become bitter with shooting, cries and fists.
The bitterness of the world
Is not the deer’s necks
And leopard’s tooth
And the death of a fish.
In the throat of a heron, there is not a disaster.
Bitterness lies in
The dolls with bellies full of TNT
Which fell on Vietnam
And on the country lanes of Palestine.
Disaster.
The joy of our children is
That they have seen a doll on the ground
And run with cheers and smiles (towards it).
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Republished with Permission: Our Children was first published in Reality is My Dream brought out by the publisher, Nashr e Markaz.
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Bijan Najdi (Persian: بیژن نجدی, pronounced [biːʒæn nædʒdiː]; (15 November 1941 in Khash, Iran – 25 August 1997 in Lahijan, Iran) was an Iranian writer and poet. Najdi is most famous for his 1994 short story collection The Cheetahs who ran with me (Persian: یوزپلنگانی که با من دویدهاند)).
Davood Jalili (1956, Iran) is an Iranian writer, translator and poet. He has published many articles on Iranian websites and magazines and has three published books.
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