Context of the Poem Esfahan’s Embrace | آغوش اصفهان
Esfahans’ Embrace is a Yemeniette’s ode to Esfahan (written in poetic prose), and the woes of necessary tribulations that came with Persian immersive language acquisition whilst living alone in Iran. The poem describes the ups and downs of this liminal phase, using metaphors pertinent to Esfahan to illustrate “shedding” ones’ past and “weaving” oneself anew (i.e., transformative life experiences or hitting new milestones). This was written in late August 2024, after several months of living in Esfahan.
Below are a few key themes of Esfahans’ Embrace. All bold text is directly from the poem.
Here is Esfahans’ Embrace in text form, and here is the accompanying video.
“Mira” symbolises Mariam. (I hate writing about myself in third-person; it sounds so pompous —Mariam).
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Zayenderoud: Life–Giving River
Zayanderoud, from zayandeh, “life–giving” (ayandeh is “future”; not sure if related), and rood, “river”.
Esfahan is represented as a personified, living entity, starting with the reference to the river Zayenderoud’s feyrooz (turquoise) veins and its breathing river streams. The end of the poem hints that the river has dried up. The accompanying video of Esfahan’s Embrace, indeed does show the river in the very first shot and the final shot, to contrast the differences between spring in Esfahan, with surging water flow, and late summer, where its completely dry.
Esfahan cradles Mira in her arms, as a way to express that Mira is like a child in this new country and culture, and in spite of being crushed over and over by her incompetence of language and trouble-shooting how to navigate life in Iran, she is enticed by the wealth of traditions and novelty of the cultures.
Weaving
There are many euphemisms in the poem that relate to carpet weaving, one of the oldest forms of craftsmanship in Iran. The metaphors are expressed in a way that captures the emotional experience of being.
(1) “Shred my certainties thread by thread” – fabrics, made up of many threads, shred. The video features a weaver repairing a beautiful hand-made Persian rug in a workshop. He does this by breaking up lines of thread and reweaving any damages or imperfections away. Of course, rug repair can only be done on hand-woven rugs—machine-made rugs may be more affordable, but end up being regrettable purchases since the fibers are plastered together on the backside and can’t be undone, and suffers from shedding.
In other words, Persian hand-woven rugs are resilient.
As a skeptic (thanks to her philosophy minor), Mira is rarely certain. When it comes to her convictions, she takes time to assess everything from every angle until she arrives at a rational and ethical decision, and rarely (if ever) changes her mind. You know, using her moral–compass and rationale. But for non-convictions, certainties can shift over time.
(2) And it took a brief moment of life in Iran to shift her perspective on some non-convictions.
Those “certainties” were pulled apart, and re-embroidered into the crevices of her soul.
(3) “unraveled and unwoven“: Mira’s views were challenged, leading to lots of introspection, which is both necessary and a bit dreadful.
(4) “stories woven into my seams” : experiences so unique to Iran have woven Mira into a new person.
(5) “The gauze and the tourniquet pulled apart in your embrace” – “You” = Esfahan, offered Mira support, but also ripped her safety bandage off, and exposed her to the harsh new world.
(6) Don’t deny it; everyone in the world has “micro” traumas (expressed as “in search for healing“, and “scrapes and scarring“).
these are short–comings (to put it gently), repressed memories, past struggles, or personality quirks that build up into habits that hold us back from being a better version of ourselves. Sometimes being pushed into a solitude (like going to Iran!) for several months, exposed to a challenging daily routine, those “quirks” end up bleeding out in a way that no longer can be productive, or may in fact tarnish the “white lace” – idealisms. Looking through rose–tinted glasses, idealisms represent any person, place, thing, or idea that you put on a pedestal, but just as you yourself are imperfect, so are these idealisms, that smack sense into you so you can transform.
Music
(1) The harp’s music as “pulsating cadences” brings to life (i.e., the pulse) the rhythm of music. But “cadences” are rhythmic, and refers to Mira’s natural abilities as a word wizard and to keep a steady flow of meaning in her usual daily language(s).
The sound waves—whether formed from music, language, or intention— were completely lost to Esfahan, so could not fully express her thoughts without being misunderstood, sometimes stopping mid-sentence or mid-rhythm. So she stopped making sound-waves, and just tried to assimilate, observe, and listen.
This is where Mira takes on a passive role, rather than an assertive one, and accepts that she must both observe and listen to others’ thoughts and opinions, instead of voicing her own cognitions and reflections as she does in her life outside of Iran. This is how one starts off learning language and other cultural antics.
(2) “I have forgotten you not, Esfahan, and I will not leave you unsung“:
Mira wishes there were no barrier of expression, but alas there is. But it does not mean she will never venerate Esfahan. There will come a day where her language skills sharpen up to the point that Esfahan not only understands her, but admires her way of expression.
Orient versus Occident
Saracen from the occident: There is juxtaposition in the phrasing of saracen and occident (i.e., an “easterner” or Arabian, from the “West”), who entered as a curious stranger, and left as a conflicted familiar. The Saracens historically lived west of Iranshahr, in northern Arabia and the southern Levant, modern–day Jordan, so this makes Mira a “westerner” who is also “easterner” in the eyes of Western Europeans and North Americans. So Mira lies somewhere in the middle of two worlds.
Arabian Incense: At the end of the poem, there is reference to Arabian incense. Like a ghost, the fragrance remains as the last vestige of Mira. As an ephemeral relic, the fragrance fades away as she journeys west, to the occident, again.
Smokey Incense, and its permeations | the running theme of permanence versus impermanence:
Mira takes a piece of Esfahan with her upon her departure, and its hard to pull away at the end. But she does not leave a permanent part of herself in Esfahan as she departs; she is just a fleeting memory or a bypassing Saracen who leaves an ephemeral trace of her culture behind, known for their trade of frankincense, myrrh, and other fragrances, which will disappear from Iranshahr soon after she leaves.
Mira’s smokey perfume is as ephemeral as the now–dried up Zayenderoud,
until she eventually returns to the orient . . .
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Will Mira poetically exalt Esfahan again in Persian on her next Iran trip?
Will Esfahan remember the Saracen with anything more eternal than just fragrant smoke?!
We will see in Winter 2025
Iran, Az Cheshmanam 