A Breath in Our Dizziness
by Shahram Sheydayi
Translated Exclusively for Gallery Mamak by Mamak Nourbakhsh
I reach out to take hold of the wings of one of the airplanes. He just barks for the heck of it. I put the rock in the middle of the road and take off to hide down the street. The first car that comes along brakes, swerves, pulls back and changes its course. The second car has obviously seen the rock from a distance and has enough time to swerve away. I head over to it and pick it up. It’s a big rock and heavy. When I get to the sidewalk I put it down where I first found it. I look around for a bigger one, pick it up and place it a bit further away from the first rock. Then I fetch another one. Now there’s three of them and no need for me to hide. I simply walk away.
I stick a word into the middle of the poem. Useless. I drag the dog in and stick it in the middle of a poem. It barks.
Just for the heck of if. It barks even at its own owner. I threaten it to make it stop. It barks.
It’s so sure it has to bark. I take my hand off the paper, it barks.
I put my hand back onto the paper. It barks.
That’s all it has to do. That’s why they’ve put it there. Prisoners in stripped uniforms: it barks.
The phone rings. I don’t answer it: it barks.
Torn train tickets: it barks.
I don’t get to my appointment to pick up the parcel: it barks.
Dictionaries: Larousse, Robert, Random House, Oxford Heritage: it barks.
Collins: it barks.
They’re pulling the table upstairs around zhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh… it barks.
Wolves surround it: it barks.
Pigeons, turtledoves surround it: it barks.
Keys turning in locks: it barks.
Mosquitoes that don’t let you sleep till long past midnight: it barks.
You had to sell your bike: it barks.
It didn’t use to be like this in the olden days… respect for elders… it barks.
Silence: it barks.
Talk: it barks.
The horn of a huge truck: it barks.
The daunting mustache and build of the driver: it barks.
A play, a movie: it barks.
Shredded potatoes: it barks.
The guy confessing to the priest in the movie: it barks.
American or European: it barks.
Yellow or white or black: it barks.
The hoisting of flags: it barks.
The lowering of flags: it barks.
You’ve gotta take one of those rocks off the road: it barks.
We’re talking of the environment, fish, flamingoes… it barks.
It was raining by the time I got to their house: it barks.
Are you barking?!! It barks.
I fell down; I was so scared he’d attack me: it barks
Did it start barking as soon as you started writing? It barks.
Who’s to speak to whom? It barks.
Who’s to answer whom? It barks.
She swore at him, slammed the door and left: it barks.
What did they say? It barks
You have to have an abortion and get a divorce otherwise that mother fucker will never divorce you once you’ve had the baby: it barks.
That’s the stunt he’s pulling: it barks.
He kept talking and I couldn’t figure out which one of us he was talking about: I, who’d just been freed, or Enrico, who’d been born in Nicaragua: it barks.
I even removed another one of the rocks: it barks.
Don’t stand here, they’ll recognize you: it barks.
It’s best when you’re in moving: it barks.
How about dinner? It barks.
First was it Abel who … Cain or was it Cain who … Abel? With a stick or a shovel? It barks.
You’re putting in too much salt; add some water: it barks.
He’s not from hereabouts. Nope, even I couldn’t recognize him: it barks.
Go get the other rock: it barks.
It’s a diesel. It works with gasoline: it barks.
Pay close attention! The tips of the fences around this embassy are of a masculine build. No one can climb over these walls: it barks.
How about if I shoot just once and do their loudspeaker in? It barks.
Fellow countrymen!! It barks.
He poured ether onto the napkin and shoved it over his nose. Then he threw a plastic bag over his head: it barks.
Done? It barks.
That’s how I did away with the dog.