From: Garrison Poems by Ali Abdollahi

All Iranian men are required to do military service and this small poem gives a very clear insight into how they feel about that experience!

Like the other three poems of Ali Abdollahi's we translated in this workshop, it was a pleasure to engage with the compact, concise way in which he conveys complex ideas in an understated idiom using clear imagery. A real example of the effectiveness of poetry that 'shows rather than tells'.

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