On the granite wall

An old threadbare window
on a half destroyed granite wall
still strangely standing
in a dark corner of a died out, mysterious garden.
the stones move imperceptibly,
the wall has a beating pulse
slow, tired yet steady
it has a soul
warm, pale yet lively
though imprisoned in blackened stones
yet flowing out of that old threadbare window
whose edges keep out the invasive ivy.
It is impregnated with silence
yet it talks to those who can hear
and tells the story of a vanished alley
among walnut trees
where children used to play
hide and seek with jackals.
It tells the story of a loving grand-ma
holding tea parties for a crowd of grand children
all grown ups now
it tells the story of a cherrished time
fixed forever on a unique snapshot
which I've lost but always find back
in its pale, yellowish version
in my most repetitive, most beloved dream,
where I keep wishing that the snapshot
wasn't yellowish but new.
As new and as fresh as was life
each spring there and then
in that bygone fruit tree garden
whose only wall stands still and steady
as if it has, strong footing,
alas not anymore in the sweetnes of rain smelling earth
but in that powerful, existantial loneliness.

Then I reluctantly wake up
and still deeply impregnated with that dream
I go downstairs and am struck
by the beauty of a new day
laying over a lively beautiful garden
in a new land and a new time.
It's spring
it's Nowrooz, the Persian New Year
playing out against backdrop of news items
nuke bombs and tragedy of kids died violently
in coach crash and shootings at school gates in Toulouse
my pain is somehow mitigated
and I look out for standing walls
with bright windows
which shine into hope
into budding lives filled with love
I look out there in every nook and cranny
in that lively spring filled garden
where my beloved has planted flowers for joy
and nowhere see I, the slightest trace
neither of that granite wall nor its barethread window's
but I know that when the night falls again
the lively garden vanishes
and the ghosts are back.

Flora Yeghoumians