Tryst

Notes

برای زنده ياد ليلا صراحت روشنی

Notes on the literal translation:

[1] This refers to a Persian saying "See you on the Judgement Day", meaning I'll never see you again as long as we live.

[2] A brand of tights popular in Kabul in Shakila's childhood, and part of the uniform for schoolgirls.

[3] I clarified this with Shakila. This part makes clear that the poem is for a very shy/modest boy who couldn't look at her face and who mostly stared at her feet.

[4] The metaphor used in Persian is "throne or coffin?" i.e., will I win or lose?

[5] Nastaran is a type of wild rose with fragrant sprays of small flowers and here apparently has branches that hang down like wings or an umbrella.

[6] This is a Persian saying implying a very long sleep, i.e. one in which you have tossed from side to side a thousand times.

[7]Note: I changed the order of these last few lines, as Shakila clarified that it was the dream that was disturbed by the bee, not any of the characters in it.

Zuzanna Olszewska, Literal Translator