The advertisement for KLM fit the side of the building to the inch. A picture of a swan landing with grace, looking all the more incongruous, though, in this coastal town bordering on the Empty Quarter, the large desert where I worked among tall sand dunes that moved slowly through the years
Muslims these days continue to be vilified, and yet the poetry of Islamic culture is unsurpassable, the hospitality exemplary and the appreciation of beauty without parallel: stand in any number of the gardens of Esferhan in Iran, as colourful and impeccably designed as peacocks, and you will see exactly what I mean.
Iranians are the most courteous and friendly people I know. The tarof system is a cultural delight that most North Americans and Europeans find difficult - and easy to take advantage of, much to their shame. Tarof generally involves refusing to accept money, those goes deeper.
Iran and other countries of the region have been so vilified for cheap political gain. I remember when the Berlin Wall was up and every East European and Russian was supposed to be a deadly communist. Same cheap game.
In those days swans drawn on walls were symbols of the desire for freedom. There are no such needs anymore, but the cheap politics of ignorance and hate are still the same.
the airplane's shadow
passing briefly through the barbed wire
she gazes upwards
one step left in freedom's walk
do the western feminists care?