Author: Dr Kamand Kojouri

Kamand Kojouri was born in Tehran, raised in Dubai and Toronto, and resides in England. She completed a creative writing PhD at Swansea University and currently teaches creative writing workshops.

November 20, 2016

“Do you know what you get when you try to escape? When you drive for miles in a deserted city or swim for hours in a shoreless sea? You get yourself.”

Kamand Kojouri

Quote

November 20, 2016

“The reason as to why we are attracted to our opposites is because they are our salvation from the burden of being ourselves.”

Kamand Kojouri

November 20, 2016

“How is it
that there was never you
until there was
and then all was you?”

Kamand Kojouri

WHAT IS IN THE ABYSS OF A KISS?

November 20, 2016

“I open my eyes.
I want to know:
what is in the abyss of a kiss?
Are stars born in these black caves
that house bated breaths and unspoken words?
Do our souls crawl on these tender cheeks
to greet one another by ivory gates?
What happens when we kiss?
Where do you go?
Don’t tell me.
For I have lost my desire to know.
Kiss me
so that I forget myself.
I close my eyes
and fall in the abyss.”

Kamand Kojouri

I FIND MYSELF DRUNK IN THE STREETS AGAIN

November 20, 2016

“I find myself drunk in the streets again.
A glass of wine and so my thoughts begin.
I smile at passersby to and fro,
Faces like blank slates minutes ago,
Now emotions readily painted on canvases:
Grief, despair, joy, and madnesses.

At this time, the clouds are sweating sweet water
And you can smell the scent of each corner:
Fish, dirt, rotten apples, and burning tyres.
Close your eyes here to smell all your heart desires.
Everything is more colourful when you’re not yourself.
So long as you’re sound body and mind, you have your wealth.

I am no longer treading but fleeting.
Birds singing, bicycle bells ringing.
I have lost my way but not my heart.
Have my head, those two are apart.
Take care, dear city. I must soon head home.
Until tomorrow night, when again I will roam.”

Kamand Kojouri

BEAUTY

November 20, 2016

“Beauty is
dad kissing mom’s hand when it cramps.
Beauty is
seeing a Persian woman dance.
Ugly is not the absence of beauty.
Ugly
is the inability to identify it.
The inability
to be surprised by it.
It is the persistent reluctance
to be made a child by it.
Beauty is
simply
the manifestation of
love.”

Kamand Kojouri

FOR ME

November 20, 2016

“For me,
you are fresh water
that falls from trees
when it has stopped raining. For me,
you are cinnamon that lingers
on the tongue and gives
bitter words
sweetening.
For me, you are the scent of
violins and vision
of valleys
smiling.
And still,
for me, your loveliness never ends.
It traverses
the world
and finds its
way back to me.
Only
me.”

Kamand Kojouri