I Do Not Want You, Petroleum
by Majid Naficy


I don’t want
I don't want you, Petroleum!
For a long time,
I thought that you burnt for me.
Now I see that I am burning for you.

I'm not saying that it's not pleasant
Sitting near a kerosine heater
And watching the falling snow
Or listening to the sound of a water pump
In the confines of a farm.
And yet, I don’t want you,
Seven-headed dragon!
Fire still spews forth from your mouth
To the soul of my homeland.

In your school I learned servitude
So that the khan of the tribe
Could send his son to London .
The Imperial Army in the South 
Forced me to abandon
The dream of a House of Justice.
On the street my blood was shed.
It turned into ink
For the pens which wrote
The new contracts of oil.
The Grand Gates of Civilization
Opened with your key.
Today the Antichrist gallops 
On your golden donkey.

You lifted this state to a heavenly throne
You polished its boots to a sheen
You raised its seven-headed club
And whenever I jumped to pull it down
You supported its shaky body
With your sturdy beams.

No! I don't want!
I don't want you, Petroleum!
Oh, bloody stream!
For a long time,
I thought you gave me blood.
Now I see, you made me bleed.

May 18, 1987

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