“…Blame creates boundaries between us, don’t you see?
It’s an old game played by sun and moon and earth – of rivalry;
a taut game of power which has chequered all our lives,
an endless game repeating repeating revolutions round the skies.
But I don’t want to take part in power games any more.
I prefer to raise a white flag, pure as any flower,
a simple banner of resistance bearing the word: “Love,”
a word whose myriad meanings have spawned endless proofs.
In fact since there’s no common understanding of this word
it is the final barrier we must remove.
My love is a single rose that offers you this plea:
what good can illusory distinctions do for you and me?”
(Excerpt from Illusory Distinctions by Mahvash Sabet)
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Teacher and poet Mahvash Sabet is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence in Evin prison, Tehran. She is one of a group of seven Baha’i leaders known as the “Yaran-i-Iran” – “Friends of Iran” – who have been detained since 2008 for their faith and activities related to running the affairs of the Bahá’í community in Iran. Mahvash Sabet began writing poetry in prison, and a collection of her poetry entitled Prison Poems was published in English translation on 1 April 2013.
PEN International is calling on the Iranian authorities to release Mahvash Sabet and all other writers imprisoned in Iran solely for exercising their right to legitimate freedom of expression.
To take more action for Mahvash Sabet visit here
To read more about, and take action for, all of the cases highlighted by PEN International on the Day of the Imprisoned Writer visit here