“Even when I write about this swan
and that orchid,
I write about you.
Every word
of every line
is for you.
I have drunk you
yet you have consumed me.
Seeping through every cell
from crown to root,
you took over heart,
mind,
and lungs
so that every breath I expel
leaves a trail of you in the air—
the same air that I inhale.
I no longer know myself separate from you.
But how I long to be with the source!”Kamand Kojouri
“They took my books
because my message was love.
Then they took my pen
because my words were love.
They took my voice
because my speech was love.
And soon, they’ll take me too
so nothing remains.
But they don’t know when I’m gone
my love will stay.”Kamand Kojouri
“What is this love
that makes me see beauty,
and makes every beautiful thing
bring you back to me?
What is this love
that makes me declare ‘I love you’
even though I uttered it
only a moment ago?
What is this love
that keeps growing even when my chest is sore
and it hurts to love you any more?
Tell me:
How am I to find what this love is
when it was the one to find you, me,
this verse, and this universe?”Kamand Kojouri
“If they spit on you,
collect their spittle to water your plants.If they throw stones at you,
pick them up to adorn your garden.If they call you the enemy, a liar and a narcissist.
Plant those very flowers: anemone, lily, and narcissus.Use their crap to cultivate your mind.”
Kamand Kojouri
“I write our names on the page.
What of it, if the paper will be burned?
I write our names in the sand.
What of it, if the shore will be washed by waves?
I write our names on trees that will be cut
and benches that will be painted,
but what of it?
I will keep on writing our names
because in this world of ephemera,
you and I are the only constant.”Kamand Kojouri
“Listen.
Do you see
that you can’t hear snowfall?
Look.
Do you sense
that you can’t see love?
Touch.
Do you grasp
that you can’t catch poems?
Try.
Smell this glass.
Go on taste this cloud.
These material senses won’t get you far until
you feel
the velvet glove caress your soul.”Kamand Kojouri
“Can we share my eyes
so you can see what I see?
Can we share my ears
so you can hear what I hear?
Can you perch on my shoulders
so you can go where I go?
Always in my heart,
I don’t experience anything separate from you.
This shared wonderment becomes doubled.
This shared love becomes infinite.”Kamand Kojouri
“Come, lovers.
Come join us.
Bring your empty cups
and sit by the fire.
Let Khayyam and Hafez
reveal to you what you feel.
Rumi will pour the wine
and I will listen.”Kamand Kojouri
“Come back to me.
Where have you gone?
And why so long?
I miss the star below your lip,
the constellation on your
chest.
I miss your ways,
how you net butter-flying words
and release them
for others to enjoy.
I miss your tenderness,
the sweetness of your breath,
and the song of your voice.
I miss how
you worshipped me.
Come back to me once more.
Why did you go?
And whatever for?
The heavens plotted against us.
The clouds came and
pissed on our lives.
The smell of charged particles
still lingers in the air.
What will become of you and I?
Come back to us.”Kamand Kojouri
“If you ask all the cells
in my body,
they only answer your name.
Follicles push the hair upwards
so they may brush
against your skin.
Nails grow faster as well.
Lungs breathe rapidly
in hopes of inhaling your scent.
Toes curl to smile and
knees form dimples when you are near.
Brain fireworks.
Stomach fills with flies of butter
and swallows, and
swans swoon.
Cattle, rhinos, and walruses too—
there’s a stampede when you are near.
I love you from the bottom of my liver
to the tip of my lashes.
One wink from you and heart stops
like a sneeze. Bless you.
I cannot even begin to tell you
what happens to soul,
for soul is off
flying with its mate.”Kamand Kojouri
Kamand Kojouri 