Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, CHADOR, by KAREN SWENSON



Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

CHADOR, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: In a taxi in isfahan we have no language
Last Line: As the river bosoms the brooch of the sun.
Subject(s): Arabs - Women; Travel; Journeys; Trips


In a taxi in Isfahan we have no language
only a veil of silence between us
like the chador she holds
thumb to finger across her lips.

Crossing the Allahverdi bridge
whose arcades open and close the view
of birds banking the sunset
we try to see each other.

She sees a freckled woman
hair straggled by wind and
reaches across the men to roll the windows up --
a courtesy for my unchadored head.

When I leave the taxi
I hold the door until she
tucks her length of wimple in.
The chador slips.

Beneath eyes warm as sun-baked plums,
there is the corner of a grin.
The thread of knowledge
gleams through the fabric of silence
as the river bosoms the brooch of the sun.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...



Home: PoetryExplorer.net