WE WERE ONCE ANGELS

“I have given it much thought.
There seems to be
only one explanation
for why we are here.
Why our souls choose
to incarnate as mortals
only to suffer for a hundred years
over and over again.
I now understand
we were once angels
who chose to manifest as humans
in order to experience the imperfect
and tempestuous human love.
So you see, if angels couldn’t refuse love
then who am I to refuse you?
And so I yield.
I surrender to this.
Our eternal dance.”

Kamand Kojouri

 

AN ARTIST

“I should’ve probably warned you:
once you end a relationship with an artist,
you are perpetually reminded of them.
They have now ruined classical music and jazz for you.
They have ruined books and poetry.
You should just forget about galleries and museums.
But you know what the worst part is?
It’s how they witnessed and observed you,
making you feel like the only person in the room.
And you secretly loved being looked at,
being worshipped.
So now you avoid mirrors.
Because when you look at yourself,
you remember me.”

Kamand Kojouri

“Be still, and know that I will always love you.”

Kamand Kojouri

DRINK

“You keep thinking you’re too much for me
that I will say I’ve had enough.
But I drank all you poured for me
and I’m thirsting to drink some more.”

Kamand Kojouri

YOUR THISNESS

“Your whatness
is what we share with you,
our togetherness.
Your thisness
is your separate essence,
your distinctness.
I love you for your whatness,
for the me in you, and the you in us.
I love you for your thisness,
your eternal soul,
deathless and endless.”

Kamand Kojouri

“What is the point of all these books
when I learn best by reading your body?”

Kamand Kojouri

YOU DO NOT INSIST THAT I LOVE YOU

“You do not insist that I love you
but how can I help it
when I hear your unbridled laughter?
How can I deny it
when I see your constellating freckles?
You do not insist that I love you
but how can I help it
when your scent shadows me at night?
How can I deny it
when your beauty attacks me in the light?
You do not insist that I love you,
but I insist that I do.”

Kamand Kojouri

“When you left,
poetry visited me.”

Kamand Kojouri

Later Tonight

“You keep asking me about my past lovers
and whether I still have feelings for them.
You become upset when I don’t keep a straight face.
Yet, it is not my fault. I can’t help but smile
when I think about later tonight
and how my fingers will comb through your hair.”

Kamand Kojouri

I LOOK AT MY PARENTS

“I look at my parents
the way mothers look at their toddlers.
I take every chance
to witness them undisturbed.
To study every detail
as if sitting for an important exam.
I take note of their hands,
the curves of their ears, the way they
envelop a room and greet others.
The way their souls shine through
when they speak of something they love,
like a candid photograph
unveiling beauty and truth.
Even though I am present
in the same space as them,
I am distanced
because of the intensity of my love.
Every heartbeat reminds me
of the ephemeral nature of our bodies
and the blessedness of these moments
until my father looks up from his book
and catches me smiling.
And like a child he is bewildered for a moment
and smiles back.”

Kamand Kojouri