“For a loaf of bread,”

به خاطر یک قرص نان
کلاهمان را به احترام دوست و دشمن
از سر برداشتیم.

دوست نیشخندی زد
و دشمن بی اعتنا از کنارمان عبور کرد

در پایان
دست ها و کلاه هایمان
روی هوا معلق ماندند.

Rasool Yoonan, a poet, playwright, novelist, and translator, was born in 1969 in Urmia, Iran. His debut collection of poetry, Good Day My Dear, was published in 1998. Further collections include Concert in Hell, I Was a Bad Boy, Carrying the Piano Down the Stairs of an Icy Hotel, Be Careful; Ants Are Coming, and Skiing on the Housetops. Yoonan’s most recent publications are three chapbooks of micro fiction: You Idiot! We’re Dead; Damn It, Pick Up the Phone; and See You in Hell.
Yoonan’s poetry has also been translated to Armenian and French.

For a loaf of bread,
we took off our hats
in deference to friend and foe.

The friend snickered,
and the foe walked past us with indifference.

In the end,
our hands and hats stayed suspended in the air.

Siavash Saadlou was born and raised in Iran. He is a writer, literary translator, and teacher. Saadlou is the authorized translator of Rasool Yoonan, the minimalist Iranian poet. His translations have appeared in Washington Square Review, Indian Review, Visions International, Blue Lyra Review, Writing Disorder, and Asymptote. He is an MFA creative writing candidate and a teaching fellow at Saint Mary’s College of California.