You said you would return,
Thursday, March 5, 2026
(14 Esfand 2584, Imperial Iranian Calendar)
By Cyrus Kangerlu
Philosophy and Sociology Researcher
You said you would return,
But night has fallen… and you never came back.
The echoes of terror and death,
The merciless rain of bullets…
I stumbled into the streets, uncovered,
Lost in a city drowning in fear.
I cried out your name—
Mother… why don’t you answer?
May I perish instead…
They slaughtered our youth.
Not one, not two—
Hundreds of thousands have fallen.
I no longer call only your name,
For now, they are all you to me,
Every one of them has become my beloved.
Among so many lifeless bodies,
How could I ever find you?
My heart can bear no more
After witnessing such cruelty.
They carried away even the dead,
Without dignity,
Without honor.
They crammed them into trucks,
Erasing every trace of death.
What a bitter silence—
As though no one had died.
As if it had all been planned,
As though they wait for us to perish.
The world remains silent,
A silence colder than death.
My tears no longer fall;
Even my grief has fallen silent.
A mother’s endless anguish,
Her cry—”O God!”
Cannons,
Tanks,
Machine guns—
None can silence love.
They are armed with weapons,
While our hands hold only love.
In rage they kill,
They fire the final shot,
They tear apart the bodies,
They carry them away…
These lovers of Iran
Have no graves left.
So how can I lay flowers
Upon their resting place?
Every flower has been torn apart;
We have no garden left.
How bloodstained is this Nowruz,
Spread across this year’s table.
This time,
The table is filled with flowers,
Filled with names.
Do not place those shameful verses
Upon our Nowruz table.
Raise the celebration,
For we shall reclaim Iran.
This is not the final battle—
No, this is not the final battle.
With warm blood,
With hearts still filled with love,
We shall reclaim Iran.
Cyrus Kangerlu
Philosophy and Sociology Researcher
I am like a river in full flow
December 23, 2025
By Cyrus Kangarlu (Azarakhsh)
I am like a river in full flow,
Though at times my heart is overcome with sorrow.
Yet from the depths of that very narrowness,
A dawn of joyful reunions always rises.
Even if you were the king of every tale,
Imprisoned by duty, calculation, and command,
The heart surrenders only to love,
Never to the cold decrees of a royal court.
My dear, I am not the mistake of a passing moment,
Nor the dust that settles upon forgotten walls.
I am that single drop that knows
The path to the sea is its eternal destiny.
Though one day I may return to dust,
My roots remain firmly planted in hope.
Even if the clouds abandon me,
The sky still holds me in its endless embrace.
I move forward, yet my heart does not die;
Knowingly, I have entrusted it to tomorrow.
Even if love was only a sacred trust,
It will live beyond every prison that confines lovers.
Though every year of life has been a blessing,
My gratitude for it has never faded from my heart.
If these days are difficult,
With the light of patience, they shall become the springtime of lovers.
If there are wounds, tomorrow will be their remedy.
If pain remains, it too shall become my companion.
Though the night without you is long,
Morning will surely come—
Such is the wisdom of Ahura.
A day without you is like night, I know.
Yet with the memory of you,
Even dawn awakens in radiant light.
Cyrus Kangerlu
Philosophy and Sociology Researcher
Do Not Ask Me to Explain the Infinite Secret of Love
August 25, 2026 (3 Mordad 2585, Imperial Iranian Calendar)
By Cyrus Kangarlu (Azarakhsh)
Do not ask me to explain love’s boundless mystery;
You would lose yourself within its endless sea of meaning.
With every breath, it sets the hearts of longing souls aflame;
Do not ask the heart of stone to tell you of its burning fire.
Whoever shares a single breath with love
Is carried far beyond the self.
Do not ask the lovesick heart
To explain the secret of such beautiful madness.
Whoever has tasted but a single sip
From love’s eternal cup
Needs no goblet nor crystal chalice
To describe the ecstasy it brings.
In the ancient tavern of eternity,
The crown of reason fell into the dust.
Do not ask the palaces of pride
To measure the worth of those sacred ruins.
Whoever became but a single drop
Within love’s mighty storm
Found the whole ocean within.
Do not ask the shoreline
To define an endless sea.
Like the dawn, transcend yourself
And you shall behold the face of the Beloved.
Do not ask the darkest night of Yalda
To reveal the path of the sun of certainty.
Every withered flower
Has once embraced the spring.
Do not ask the breath of winter
To tell the story of tomorrow’s blossom.
Whoever has polished the mirror of the heart
Of every stain of vanity
Needs no explanation
Of the Divine Countenance reflected there.
Though reason may memorize a hundred volumes,
Before love it finally surrenders.
Do not ask reason alone
To reveal the mysteries of this valley of the soul.
Until you are consumed
By the flames of longing,
You cannot walk illuminated.
Do not ask our humble lamp
To explain the light of love’s own dawn.
For a single smile from the Beloved,
We would gladly forsake both worlds.
Do not ask the people of this world
The price of such a treasure.
Cyrus Kangerlu
Philosophy and Sociology Researcher