“your memory is hidden
Kamand Kojouri
in every thing that’s not me
even this lonesome cigarette
and that crooked painting
i hear their laments
and invite them in
who am i to deny
their wretched destiny
we talk of you and sigh
there’s much too sighing
then i close my eyes to dream
of your tender mercies
i didn’t kiss you enough”
“Give me back my lips.
I meant to give you a kiss
but a kiss turned to a thousand,
and a thousand to thousands,
and now my lips have left with you.
Give me back my hands.
They only intended to caress you
but they held tight and have forgotten
even the very arms they belong to.
Give me back my mind.
Mind wasn’t even supposed to think of you
but you forced yourself into dreams,
and those dreams dreamed of your reality
and now mind is mindless —
less mine more yours.
Give me back to myself.
I miss my reflection
and who I was before I met you.
Before I eagerly and lovingly,
stupidly and foolishly
gave all of myself to you.”Kamand Kojouri
“I have lifted my veil
and I’m baring my soul to you.
Don’t you see my heart crying?
How did you become so cruel?
Did someone hurt you, too?”Kamand Kojouri
“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
“I wonder
if you ever read my poems
and wish
they were written
for you.”Kamand Kojouri
“I know you not quite well
Yet I foolishly surrender my mind to you.
Slowly and carefully you have cast a spell
Now my virgin heart only longs for you.
There is no need to push, I am already falling.
Once proudly tall, I’m no longer standing.
Knowing well that I am doomed to misery,
I will roll the dice and take delight in my suffering.”Kamand Kojouri
“You see her
and ascend into love.
You become enchanted,
a found madman.
In your love,
you lose yourself
and become her.
You were once without her, now
with her.You still feel her
and descend into love.
You become enraptured,
a lost madman.
In your love,
you lost yourself
and her.
You were once with her, now
without her.”Kamand Kojouri
“Why didn’t you write all this time?
Did you not remember us in a song?
A dance?
In the skies littered with stars?
Did you not get drunk?Why didn’t you write all this time?
Did you not remember us in a film?
A book?
In idyllic dusks and dawns?
Did you not get high?It is good that you didn’t.
For all is well.
I am drunk and dazed.
I have already forgotten you
and your bewitching ways.”Kamand Kojouri
“Gone are the summer days
and my mind along with them.
No longer will I indulge
in hopes of getting you back.
It is hope that makes these chains heavier
and autumnal nights longer.
I will merely serve as a memory to you:
the lover that recited love poems.
I must go now
and I urge you not to look back.”Kamand Kojouri
“Love, the exotic bird,
came and went.
Heart forgot love.
Joy, the majestic willow,
wept and died.
Mind forgot joy.
Hope, the basement lamp,
fell and broke.
Soul forgot hope.
Self, the anxious caterpillar,
took flight and dropped.
Self forgot self.
You, my all,
became all my reasons.
Reasons left.
You left.
I never forgot.”Kamand Kojouri
Kamand Kojouri 