به پاییز
به نسیم
به چای عصر
به عطرِ نانِ تازه
به ژاله بر تن گل
به بویِ گرمِ نوزاد
به خوابِ دمِ صبح
و خنکیِ خوشنودِ رود
به عشق، به نور، به امید
به لذت از پیِ رنج
میگویم نه
*
به یأس
به کابوس
به منجلابِ دروغ
به سرگشتگیِ برزخ
به گریه از سرِ غصه
به شِکوِه بر شبِ گور
به گردنههای وحشت
و طوفانهای سرماخیز
به فراق، به مرگ، به درد
به رنج از پیِ لذت
میگویم نه
*
به سیب
به فردوس
به عشقِ آدم
به زایشِ قابیل
به آغوشِ هابیل
به شرمِ مادرِ قاتل
و اشکِ مادرِ مقتول
به حوّایی که آن شب زاده شد
و دیگر فقط گریست
و گریست
و گریست
میگویم نه
*
آی آدمها
اینهمه سال
هیچکس به فکرِ حوّا نبوده است
*
من اما میگویم نه
و به زِهدانِ آفرینش
برمیگردم
سرسام
مهسا معین
Listen to an excerpt of the original Persian read by the poet-translator:
Mahsa Moeen’s translation practice is closely linked to her work as a poet. Translating her own writing as well as Persian literary texts, she approaches translation as a creative act that prioritizes rhythm, image, and emotional continuity. Rather than seeking strict equivalence, her translations aim to carry over the interior movement and tonal atmosphere of the original Persian, while allowing the English text to stand independently as a literary work.
She has published poetry and short stories in Persian literary magazines and continues to explore self-translation as a practice shaped by bilingualism, displacement, and the experience of living between languages. Mind Fever, translated by the author, is among her recent works. The poet wrote this piece in November 2025 and translated it into English in December 2025. Asymptote is the first media to publish it.
She has published poetry and short stories in Persian literary magazines and continues to explore self-translation as a practice shaped by bilingualism, displacement, and the experience of living between languages. Mind Fever, translated by the author, is among her recent works. The poet wrote this piece in November 2025 and translated it into English in December 2025. Asymptote is the first media to publish it.
Mahsa Moeen is an Iranian-Canadian poet born and raised in Tehran. She immigrated to Canada in 2009 and lives in Toronto. She is a physician and works as an anesthesiologist in a community hospital. Alongside medicine, literature has been the central passion of her life. She writes poetry and short prose in Persian, and her work has appeared in Persian literary magazines.
Her writing often explores embodiment and dissolution, exile and belonging, and the human desire to return to nature. Mind Fever reflects a rejection of both suffering and pleasure as defining conditions of human existence, and gestures toward a longing to dissolve into the natural world.
