"Reading Farrokhzad in a Pandemic" Finding Solalce in Verse

“Reading Farrokhzad in a Pandemic”

By Kaveh Akbar

In life, loss is inevitable, but it does not define us. We, as humans, possess the power to transcend emotion, language, and circumstance, to find light in the darkness, and meaning in the chaos. I honor those who have passed by living boldly with intention and compassion, and I urge you to do so too; never forget the resilience of the human spirit.

Kaveh Akbar’s “Reading Farrokhzad in a Pandemic” offers a poignant reminder that even in the darkest of times, literature and art can provide one solace and perspective. Though the height of the pandemic has, at this point (March 12th, 2023) been passed, at such a time in which Akbar wrote a poem, the challenges of the pandemic were at the forefront of people’s lives, causing great social, emotional, and financial distress for many people. The pandemic has yet to pass, and Akbar’s poem offers a seeming melancholic and somber, yet also philosophical and contemplative take on the obstacles of the pandemic. Kaveh’s poem is to a great degree, a reflection on the experience of reading poetry in translation during a pandemic. The title, Reading Farrokhzad in a Pandemic,” after all, references a reviled and revered modernist poet of Iran who has since sadly passed, Forugh Farrokhzad (1934-1967). Farrokhzad, a trailblazer, was an Iranian poet who broke through the barriers of gender and society to become one of the prominent mid-20th-century writers in Iran. She often dealt with female desire in her poetry, struggling with the reception of her work in a culture where women were often confined to traditional roles. Poetry to Farrokhzad was not “feminine,” or masculine, but rather, something by and for humanity. Despite being banned in the Islamic Republic of Iran for almost a decade, her poetry only grew in popularity among younger generations who admired her courage and artistry; she became a symbol of artistic, personal, and sexual freedom in Iran. Through her expression of unique emotion and romantic feelings of the feminine gender in her verse, which was coupled with distinctive frankness and elegance, she inaugurated a new chapter in Persian literature and poetry. As a sample of some of her remarkable works, take her 1955 Poem “Captive”:

I think about it and yet I know

I’ll never be able to leave this cage

Even if the warden should let me go

I’ve lost the strength to fly away.

Reading such a piece, to say that it moves me profoundly, would be an understatement. The idea that the greatest prison we can ever live in is the one we create in our own minds, is an idea that is more relatable than one can imagine, and with great brevity and imagery, Farrokhzad was able to exemplify this message through her verse. With the context of Farrokhzad in mind, it makes sense how Kaveh Akbar, an Iranian-American poet, would find her to be an individual of interest, as, she too, was Iranian, and like Akbar, she explored complex and nuanced themes related to identity, culture, and society in her poetry. Both Akbar and Farrokhzad use their craft, the beauty that is poetry, to challenge societal norms and question power structures, while simultaneously delving into personal and emotional experiences. Similar to how Farrokhzad’s groundbreaking legacy inspired generations of Iranian writers, including Akbar (who has likely been inspired by her), Akbar uses his legacy, his contemporary poetry, and advocacy for underrepresented voices in the literary world, to use the tradition of using language as a tool for expression, connection, and resistance, much like Farrokhzad did in her own time.

In Akbar’s poem, “Reading Farrokhzad in a Pandemic,” the speaker struggles with their limited understanding of their native language, Farsi, having to use a translation app to decipher what “ما هر چه را که باید از دست داده باشیم از دست داده ایم” means (meaning “we have lost whatever we had to lose.”) His poem touches on themes of loss, death, and the sacrifices people make in order to fulfill basic needs such as “mail” and “groceries”. The speaker, though not explicitly known, can be inferred to be Kaveh Akbar, as he has often alluded to his struggle with not knowing his native language fluently, in addition to the connections he has with Iran/ancient Persia. In line with this inference, the speaker (Akbar) comes across as reflective, empathetic, and introspective. He reflects on his own responsibility and accountability in the face of tragedy, noting that he writes “we” knowing that “we dilutes” his “responsibility, / like watercolors dipped in a fast river.” The term “we” is a collective pronoun, one that, especially in the context of the pandemic, was thrown around often. From ideas pertaining to “we” needing to wear masks and get vaccinated, to “we” wanting for school to stop being virtual and our life to go back to normal, “we” is a word that has taken on an immense weight and significance in our current times. However, as Akbar suggests, the use of “we” can also be a way of diluting individual responsibility and accountability. Behind every loss and tragedy, behind every victory and success, behind every “we” are individual stories and experiences that deserve to be acknowledged and heard. Especially amidst the context of a pandemic, it is paramount to find a balance between collective action and individual responsibility, to listen to and amplify the voices of those who have been most negatively affected, and to remember that behind the word “we” are people with real experiences and stories. Akbar’s use of a metaphor of “watercolors dipped in a fast river” suggests the fleeting nature of individual responsibility in the face of larger societal forces, also implying that small actions can still leave an impression and contribute to the larger picture, in the same way that watercolors, while minor, when being applied to a thing as grand as a river, still have a chemical impact on the water within it.

Akbar also touches on the limitations of language in conveying such intense experiences, asserting “Here, the waving flag. / Here, the other world.” and how “there is room in the language for being without language.” The former segment, the notion of a “waving flag” or a “other world” could be representative of a sense of displacement, or a feeling of being caught between two cultures or identities. Akbar could be referring to his own experience as an Iranian-American, or to the experience of other immigrants who may feel a sense of dislocation from their home country, while also feeling like an outsider in their adopted home. The waving flag could represent the flag of Iran, while the “other world” could refer to the United States. The usage of the word “other” in its given context creates a sense of alienation and estrangement from the speaker’s surroundings. For the latter segment, “there is room in the language for being without language,” there is the elicited idea that language is inadequate to express the depth of one’s emotions and experiences. Akbar is conveying the idea that language can sometimes fall short in conveying the full weight of the human experience, particularly in the face of tragedy or loss. Another meaning is also present, however, the notion that even when language is insufficient, there is still space within language for the expression of those emotions and experiences that cannot be fully articulated. One could interpret this as Akbar’s call to acknowledge the limitation of language while also striving to express ourselves in ways that are authentic and true to our experiences. The poem ends with a sense of despair and resignation to the losses experienced, “We have lost / whatever / we had to lose.” The phrase “we have lost,” again includes the word “we” (the same word that the speaker said dilutes responsibility) evokes a finality and sense of irrevocable loss. There is the repetition of the word “whatever” before these final lines, emphasizing that loss is all-encompassing. The statement “we had to lose” suggests a fatalistic view of the situation at hand, as if losses were inevitable or necessary. The use of the past tense also suggests that Akbar is reflecting on losses that have already occurred, rather than anticipating future losses.

As it relates to poetic techniques as a whole, Akbar’s poem “Reading Farrokhzad in a Pandemic” makes use of many of them. The poem, in its very title, and in its sporadic Farsi diction, alludes to the Iranian poet Forough Farrokhzad, conveying how the themes and emotions explored by Farrokhzad are still relevant and meaningful in the present moment. Akbar uses metaphor to convey the idea that “we” dilutes responsibility like “watercolors dipped / in a fast river,” indicating the very powerful impact a word as simple as “we” can have on one’s perception of what is going on in life. Akbar also personifies the English language, when he tells it to “get behind” him. Such personification adds a sense of tension and conflict to Akbar’s poem, as if Akbar is struggling against the limitations of language. Akbar’s poem has a varied rhythm, with some lines written in iambic pentameter (such as “Whatever we/had”), and others with a more free-form structure. Such rhythm creates a sense of movement and momentum that propels Akbar’s poem forward. The repetition in the phrase “we lose, we lose” creates a sense of foreboding and inevitability, as if losses experienced during the pandemic are inescapable. Akbar also uses simile to convey the idea that certain experiences are difficult to put into words. For example, Akbar describes the fact that some tragedies are “too wretched for/ letters,” as if language itself is insufficient to express the depth of human suffering.

Though I was able to summarize the poem’s content, to paraphrase it (rewrite it in my own words) would be something like:

Title: Farsi Unreadable, Lost Everything Needed to Lose

Translation; “We have lost everything we had to lose.”

The waving flag, the other world, people die for mail and groceries. Diluting responsibility like watercolors in a river, a fact too wretched for letters: my jailed uncle, his killed daughter. Room in language for being without language. Wet is cold, diamond is light. Want both countries to fear me.

Evident shifts in Akbar’s poem come when he goes from talking about a translation of a Farsi sentence to talking about “Because we need mail, people die” - as it takes a very direct shift from something gloomy to something very depressing. Another shift occurs when Akbar talks about his uncle being “jailed”, and his uncle’s “daughter killed”, as a more personal sentiment is brought on to the entire poem. As a whole, though such shifts play into the composition of the intimacy within the poem, they all contribute to the pensive nature of the poem. The poem, in its entirety, is structured in a series of fragmented and interconnected thoughts, divided into stanzas of varying lengths. Though I did not struggle with anything in particular in reading/analyzing this poem, one thing I realize is that context is extremely essential in understanding virtually any type of writing. Had I not learned about Farrokhzad, I wouldn’t know the deeper connections within the poem. Had I not known about the pandemic or Kaveh Akbar’s background, my understanding would have been heavily constrained. Context is essential to understanding any type of writing; I can’t think of an instance in which it wouldn’t be important.

As an Iranian-American, learning about someone as inspiring, yet also as unsung as Farrokhzad, made me even more proud to have been born of Persian descent. People, when they think of Persian poetry, often think of Saad, Hafez, and Rumi, but never someone like Farrokhzad. To learn of such an individual through Akbar’s poem was a very rewarding experience for me. Furthermore, as a whole, the ideas expressed in Akbar’s poem are ones that I agree with. Language oftentimes is limited in that it is difficult to express the inexpressible, yet, without language, how else do we convey (to the best of our abilities) what we are feeling? We are still facing the pandemic, and while many of its challenges have since plummeted, they are still evident, and I find it more necessary than ever for us to come together and persevere through these trying times. Even in the midst of uncertainty, we are capable of achieving great things. We must continue to adapt, innovate, and support each other as we navigate this new “normal.” Together we can overcome any obstacle and emerge stronger than ever before, and together, we will see it through that this will happen. Akbar’s poem, like always, was amazing. From the very fruitful insights it provided to me, ranging from the power of language in describing the indescribable, to bestowing upon me the privilege of learning about the amazing Forugh Farrokhzad, Akbar’s poem was nothing less than rewarding.

I end with this note: In loss, we find common ground. Our words may fail us, but our pain unites us. May we honor the voices of those who have suffered, seek out the voices that offer hope, empathy, and beauty, and let them guide us toward a brighter future for all.