Speach to Iranian-Americans downtown after the start of the Green-Revolution

Why have we gathered here tonight? Some may have come to console themselves, some to console others. Maybe because we feel a sense of longing- mixed with urgency. A loneliness for times of long past, of times of peace and camaraderie. Indeed, the loneliness we each feel in the midst of all this chaos is a fundamental human reaction.
Much like many of you, I too currently have family in Iran. And like many of you, I too feel a sense of guilt. For I look around and see nothing but peace and calm in every direction. The economy pales in comparison to the struggle so many we love are working through.
Why, I ask my self, am I so privileged?
Why, god, can't I be with my family when they need me most?
I want to be there, in the streets, fighting for change!

But, alas, I am here, in the safety of the American Bubble. And I could not feasibly leave.
Yet I yurn for a lasting freedom so passionately. And this, THIS is our chance. If we do not do it now, then when will we ever free ourselves?

How many times have we stood at these gates of oppression? Screaming, cursing, pleading for our sovereignty? And how many times have we gotten a foot through the door?
Of the countless revolutions this planet has seen, there have been only two kinds before.
One kind of uprisings were angry but unfocussed, and subsequently put down hard.
The other class of revolutions were angry and focussed. They were bloody and forcefully removed the powers at be.
Yet, with each bloody revolution, time and time again, we see there often follows a more sinister government.

THEN the youth of Iran took to the streets. And in their collective act of defiance created a third category of rebellion. This one is characterized by great masses of people, blue and white collar alike.
By a relentless urge to push ahead peacefully, despite a lack of central leadership, all in the face of such harsh opposition.
Of very casualties compared to the scope of the situation.
No guns, no leader, no plan. Just the masses in the streets, masses that so vividly feel the same loneliness as we do right now, here in Chicago.

So, how do we ensure this rebellion be a successful one?

I say, by redefining the act. To rebel, there must be a structure to oppress. To revolt, there must already be classes that define our roles. Such terminology defeats us before we start.

Instead of revolution, lets call it EVOLUTION; those in the streets, then are the evolutionaries.

Instead of condemning the regime,
let us celebrate the bravery of those blessed evolutionaries!

They are doing what we have dreamed of doing since we left our Iran.
They are doing what they feel they must inorder to breathe for one more day.





LISTEN CAREFULLY:

WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER,

WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER,

WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER.

What is the boat we share so intimately? It is this blue speck of miraculous Earth hurtling impossibly through the cosmos. Our only home.

And to whom does “we” refer?
To every single human-being.

Lets think about that for a second.

Every single human being.

That includes you, me and everyone in between.
That includes Neda and the scared little boy who shot her.
That includes our parents and the Basij.
Your children and the Ayatollah.

EVERYONE.

Look around you, at all the beautiful faces joined in solidarity for such a noble cause.
A movement has started- unique in history.
But how?
Well, ask yourself this:
“would I be here, in this place tonight standing for justice, if the election was not stolen?
Would I feel so strongly towards a sovereign Iran,with such ferocious passion in my eyes, had Neda not died on camera?”

…

So I say this:
Let everyone be your teacher,
and learn like you know nothing.

In this light, the regime has been an invaluable teacher. They have shown us in one day what 20 years of relative peace has not:
That we are worth more than this!
That we are each human, and count!
That deserve to govern ourselves!
A perhaps most importantly, That we are united, whatever may a happen.

So, let us ascend beyond the victim and aggressor mentality.
For WE let this happen,
WE gave these scoundrels our power.
And ultimately, they are merely a reflection of our selves, our fears and insecurities.

Cant you hear the Ayatollah whimpering in fear? Shaking in the face of such great change!?
So as they cower behind their guns and shields, let us do the unimaginable, the evolutionary.

Let us invite them into a shared future with open arms.
For the future of peace we all so desperately seek must house all of god's children, not just the “righteous.”

As they BEAT our sisters and brothers, we will respond with ruthless compassion. For they know not what they do.

As they FIRE into the crowds, we will invite them into our homes. Share our food, our time, ourselves.

When they swear at us, we will forgive them, when they trespass upon us, we will ask once more, simply for our votes to be counted.

We cannot go back to a time of isolated countries and separate cultures. No, this is a global society we live in, one of shared resources and responsibilities. We can only move ahead towards a new ideal that all can live with.
To move forward as a single species, we must strive for nothing short of of absolute unity.

After all, we are all in this together."

dream bigger

the american dream
gleams under hot fluorescent lights
where wrought-iron fencing
and
guard dogs snarling
beckon you to come back in the morning.

we the people
never voted for this.
our words got bent
and
twisted
until all that was left
was a visage of freedom.

oh, we'll take your huddled mass,
and pack them into public housing.
yeah, give us your sick and tired,
and we'll make them work for nothing.

then we'll call it the land of opportunity.

but one day,
one day soon,
we will live the dream
that everyone
we never knew,
died for.

yes, one day,
one day soon,
we will live in the world
Martin Luther saw,
flashing bold across his eyes,
as our tax money
struck him down.

when we grow up
and govern ourselves.
when we find the love
that we've searched so hard for,
knuckles bloody and raw,
right inside ourselves.

oh we're so close.

6 point some billion hearts
sighing in unison.

I met the Light of my Night at a concert- I was lovelorn, playfully bitter she was playful, sparkling like glitter.

She's the Light of my Night, the reason I can See.
She's my dancing Queen, she makes me feel like a teen.
Like I never kissed a girl before, like I've never felt anything.

She danced into my life when I was done with Love and out of breathe-
as if I knew what I was doing.

I tried so hard to meet every silly Indie girl I could,
in every god-damned Indie coffee shop
from Evanston to Pilson.

While she patiently worked down the street from me!
Did I mention we lived on the same god-damned street!?

Now I can't imagine any future with out her,
she's my everything, my reason for trying.

Ah, Lawd. When she smiles at me I can't see.
She's a sunburst dream and when she touches me I beam.

I love her more than I can admit,
more than time will ever remember.
More than the bond that joins the Moon and Earth.

She is the light of my night,
burning stark, burning right.
She is the reason I can See.

seethe, goddamnit!

seethe with excitement,
you are the supervolcano,
the megashark
that defies all known history-
boundaries.

forget what holds you back
because it's too heavy to carry on
this flight requires you to pack
light that we need to lift off.

let history become the sun plumitting
across your rearview mirror.
let tomorrow become
something you'll never know.

it's ok to be fully in the moment.
it's ok to be fully.
it's ok to be.
it's ok.

these women...

These women with bodies
like fire hydrants
on burning August days,
gushing all everywhere-
these young gleaming things-
they'll be the death of me.

they grind and wink and tell me things
with their lips so close to mine;
about places they long to see
but don't have the time.

they tell me of their past lives
with lovers lost and memories found,
in places too dusty to be spoken of often.

i swoon on one leg, then the other foot
and my heart crescendos
like a whale's mourning song
and they smile and are gone
leaving me clutching my kick-drum
heart watching the night take her back,
her back to mine.

chicago snows on us

This night was made for us
two to enjoy and ruin.
because it's too small to fit
all of ourselves into-
your smile and my burning heart.

And these snow flakes?
sure they drift on
and apart and fall lost
but no matter how long they fly,
they always melt by your touch.

so i guess i'm a snow flake,
horribly cliche
and doomed from the start.

because that much we share,
both terrified of the fall
and jaded by the stars.

Dropping like frozen light,
trapped and towed by the weight
of your eyes,
the blueness of the sky palpable
and that horizon that never flinches,
my teary-tired view
falls onto you
and the valley of your lips;
and in the moment before i die,
i sigh and close my eyes,
then melt from your touch.

there's lovers over there:

there's lovers over there:
they're wrapping themselves up
in sweat-soaked sheets
and low hanging fears-
hoping they stay below the radar.

there's lovers over there:
i can hear the wet snap of kisses
and the hollow squarbble of
eyes rolling like marbles on glass.

there's lovers over there:
let'em be,
let'em be,
let'em love enough
for all of us.