Elham Hamedi [Iran] - Poetry

 Elham Hamedi [Iran]

      The Mannequins are on Strike 

The mannequins have gone on strike.

They have subtracted laughter

from the dry territory of their lips,

and now they chew

something like the rotten apple of seasons.

The mannequins of my homeland,

swollen within the shattered display windows of dreams,

float amid the tides of the brainless crowds—

their faces smell of dead fish,

and all the street’s muscles

suffer a violent spasm.

The mannequins of my land smell of oil,

and the price of their flesh

is better known by empty barrels.

Inside their plastic intestines

lies the leftover sandwich

that has licked the pavement clean.

The mannequins

have rebelled—

at every crossroads they honk and scream,

while the street’s muscles

remain locked

in an endless spasm.

   .....

   Four Thousand Four Hundred Forty-Four…

The street is sick,

filled entirely with the delirium of working hands,

and sometimes it burns in the fever of unemployment.

Crows, black stains of exploitation on the sky,

strangle angels in the clouds.

The street is sick.

Working children—these wounds of the street—

multiply every day.

At the crossroads, a child is divided

into four thousand four hundred forty-four pieces.

At the intersections, the traffic lights

target children’s joys

with red gunfire.

The street is sick,

and my work is to speak delirium.

And my deliriums

cannot be considered art

in any exhibition.

 ....

     The Howl of Pearls

Words have gone moldy in my mouth.

The window cannot provide breath

for the four walls,

and my imagination takes a suspicious journey

through the cracks in the walls.

The journey moves between the dry lips of the lake,

where the moon was swallowed,

and every piece of my body

fits into a suitcase

beyond the borders,

on a distant shore.

There, my body will merge

with the body of a fish,

and a pearl in my mouth

will emit a painful howl,

and the moon

will be born again in my mouth.

The journey continues

with a fresh interpretation.

Biography 

About the author:

      Elham Hamedi, born in Shiraz, Iran in 1967, is a famous poetess, multimedia artist, painter and writer. She holds a Master’s degree in Artistic Research and a Degree in Radiology. She began writing poetry in 1990 and has participated in hundreds of international anthologies, literary magazines, and exhibitions. Hamedi is the author of the poetry book “Un colpo alla testa era uno Zaqboor” (Terra d’Ulivi, Italy, 2022), which has received international recognition, including awards from Città di Varallo and Isola d’Elba – Ascoltando i Silenzi del Mare. She has won numerous literary awards, including International Literary Award “Women for Culture and Peace” (Italy, 2022), Emozioni Poetiche (Milan, 2023), Premio Nosside (2024), Premio Internazionale di Poesia Città di Varallo (2023–2024), and Premio Albero Andronico (2025). She has been named one of the “50 Unforgettable Women of Asia” and a “Pillar of Asia’s Culture” in the Stockholm 2023 project.