Love Echoes…Share and Inspire

IRAN, ECHOES OF RED ROSE SPLENDOR Immersing myself in the permanent university of traveling Pulled in myriad ways, curious and intrigued To the roads less traveled Red rose is the national flower Flower of love Rearrange the words It is Eros, the God of Love My loose jogging shoes slapped against the stone roads of Persia If you like people, you will like Iran Iranians are endlessly welcoming They have the human touch Hooked on anything Western They opened their hearts to us They spoke candidly about everything Internet, Facebook, Iran’s relations with the West Where are you from? Where do you live? Why did you come to Iran? Frustrated by politics A land and people wanting to change We weaved a tale through pilgrimages to ancient sites We walked in sun speckled cloud shapes To Tehran’s Reza Shah Pahlavi’s White and Green Palace The lavish Golestan Palace Mirrored glass that turned into a prismatic fire Flashed and glowed in a kaleidoscope of colors We scaled the slopes of the Alborz Mountains to Velenjak Park Lined with tall leafy plane trees People strolled and hiked, some played ball Others enjoyed the evening’s music Pop Tehrangeles songs Danced to it The colossal slightly snow covered Damavand was up ahead Water from melting snow flowed and lapped the foot of the trees Paused for Mexican pizza with Al, Jazz, Puran and Shirin At Ferdowsi Avenue there were men with calculators at the ready Exchanged money, dollars to toumans, rials Drank Parsi cola, ate yogurt sabzi (soft greens) and soft white cheese Dizi, lamb stew, highlight of Persian cuisine Traditionally cooked in a small stone crock pot Justified Soul food believed to sustain us through a long day Shrines of medieval poets Hafez and eloquent Saadi in Shiraz The Quran and a collection of the poems of Hafez, Iranian folk hero Who transported us back to the magic of Ancient Persia Amplified tones of muezzins called the faithful for prayer We basked in the glories of an early civilization The tomb of Cyrus the Great at the honey colored plains of Pasargad Explored the sparkling turquoise-tiled domes and minarets of Esfahan Intricately designed copper lamps Beautiful boulevards with covered bridges of the Zayandeh Rud River The life giving river that cuts across the city The April breeze ballooned out my chador With the generosity of Fereshte and Marti We ate Ashreshte hearty soup (Black lentils, kidney beans, garbanzo beans in pomegranate paste) Old caravanserais Abbassi Hotel in a lavish setting Period paintings on the walls Striking woman with a yellow scarf and red headband Carrying a red rose in one hand A massive clay jug on her shoulder Big brown eyes, smiling red lips Black hair jutting out from her printed scarf Lush gardens, palaces, mosques, and minarets Led to the Persian Isfahan’s beauty is half of the world The awesome power and beauty of Persopolis Trees and my umbrella offered cool solace from the midday sun The size of five football fields A collection of fraying once luxurious yellow tent suites With marbled bathrooms from the distance Nowadays it is has some rocks with graffiti I love Leonardo di Carpio Tall columns, stunning example of Pre-Islamic architecture Mythical Iranian kings and semi divine rulers Invading armies with their swords Guests of the King offering sacrifices Monumental and majestic testament Splendor of Achaemenian Persia Attention to the detail Left us breathless The mud brick alleys and rooftops of Abyaneh Zoroastrian women in flowery dresses Sold dried apricots and mulberries Young girls in satin and tulle with head veils brought out smiles The wind swept lanes of Kashan Flowing water canals and stone walkways Apple and watermelon carts Tree shaded shops Street kids selling Chiclet chewing gum The golden domes of the holy city of Qom Politically speaking mustachioed Clerics in turbans Motorcycles buzzed by We sat on green benches Low–spouting fountains kept us cool We quenched our thirst with Faludeh (a bowl of frozen sorbet with thin crispy starch noodles and rose water) Lost in a maze of twisting bazaars Exquisite carpets in ever green colors, squares with landscapes of animals Weeping willows and sky blue background Burgundy Oriental medallions, silk and lustrous weaves in detail Developed meaningful relationships with new friends Lingered over small cups of hot tea Stirring with tiny teaspoons Sharbat, carrot juice shake with vanilla ice cream and walnuts If your travel decision is based on what people say You will probably never make it to Iran However you choose your journey Iran will change the way you see this part of the world Soul searching in mysticism This journey freed me Of every concept and image My mind has ever known - - Reading the famous novel of Paul Coelho Down by the River Piedra, I sat down and Wept All love stories are the same Maybe so I write mine anyway The first time I ever saw your face I threw a pebble in the waters of the River Piedra There you were, grinning We were young then