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Dead Man’s Shadow: Collected Poems

Edited with an Introduction by: Lucian Stone Afterword by:M. R. Ghanoonparvar
Quick Overview

Leonardo P. Alishan was an Armenian-Iranian-American poet, short story writer, and playwright, as well as a scholar of Persian and comparative literature. Alishan’s writings—his poetry in particular—although very personal, speak to shared experiences and persistent issues inherent in the human condition. "Dead Man’s Shadow" is the first collection of his poetry to be printed since his untimely death in a house fire in 2005. This volume reflects the diverse literary influences on his unique, cosmopolitan voice. Thematically, the collection includes poems about human nature, theodicy, identity, patriotism and nationalism, the Armenian genocide, war, and exile.

ABOUT THE EDITOR:

Lucian Stone is currently Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Religion at the University of North Dakota where he teaches and conducts research on Islamic philosophy, Sufism, Comparative Philosophy and Religion, Philosophy of Literature and Art, and Iranian Intellectual History. He is coeditor of "The Relevance of the Radical: Simone Weil 100 Years Later" (2010) and "The Philosophy of Seyyed Hossein Nasr," Library of Living Philosophers, Volume XXVIII (2001).

author

Leonardo P. Alishan

Leonardo P. Alishan (1951-2005) was born of Armenian parents in Tehran, Iran. He came to the United States for graduate studies in 1973. He taught Persian literature and comparative literature at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City from 1978-1997. During his life he published two collections of poetry, Dancing Barefoot on Broken Glass (1991) and Through A Dewdrop (2000). His poems and short stories have been published in a variety of anthologies and journals, and he was the recipient of a number of literary awards, including the Academy of American Poets award, the Christopher Morely Poetry Award, the Anne Irving Writing Award, and Atlanta Review’s International Merit Award.

Acknowledgements

Editor’s Introduction:Leonardo Paul Alishan’s Shadow:A Biographical Introduction

PART I.PRETENDING NOT TO BE AFRAID
calm evening lake
clouds responding
skating on the mirror
up to its non-existent knees
A yellow jacket wasp
green green, yellow green
scattered yellow leavesin the cool of the evening
seabirds and crustaceans
cracking the shell of the crab
a majestic tortoise shell
in lamentation or in joy
the sparrow
the heron
I watch the bird hop
a spider
a ladybug’s weight
I let the butterfly out the window
if I could’ve fallen asleep
water swallows light
The wounded zebra kicked the lioness
glittering in the headlights
new flowers sprouting
all flowers fade
trees standing in the flood
the dandelion tries
looking at his feet
the beggar
in underdeveloped countries
Who but man
A grenade thrown into
Glaring into the eyes
supreme democracy of death
children

PART II. TIRED THOUGHTS

Inescapable
Difficulty of Being
Hereditary Disease
Tired Thoughts
Maslakh
Trojan Dirge
Dear Dr. Frankenstein
Pietá
Military Contractors
Apocalyptic
so many
when the true revolution comes
in the heart of the war zone
A Funeral of Sounds
Extinguished Suns
of all the holidays
Uniformity
someone’s screaming
more cruel
Lament for a Persian Boy Who Comes and Goes
Under Different Names and Different Moons

Every Day A Memorial Day
Every soldier learns
Biblical Reincarnations
Reincarnations

PART III. APRIL, SINCE 1915

the crucifix around Granny’s neck
Heavenly Creatures of Hell
Granny by the Lethe
April, Since 1915
Perpetual Death and Resurrection
Wandering Armenian Prayer
Song of Bread
Children of the Desert

PART IV. NOWHERELAND

To An American Friend Who Loves Persian Poetry
Longings of the Larynx
Dead Man’s Shadow
first twenty-two years
Armiran
Love Song for Iran
Paradise Lost
Isfahan: Ode and Elegy
New Julfa, Isfahan
I.D.
Atrophy
Forty Years of Wandering
Remembrances
My Brother and My Dreams
The Expedition
Song of the Vagabond
The Migratory Swimmer
Exilic
in exile I learned
Expatriated Persian
I Saw Susa
how could a people
Medieval Renaissance
Partying in Exile
Communion
A Brief History of a Kurdish Village
After all these years
My Side: An Open Letter
I’ve lived long enough
Stargazers
Regression
T’ang Thoughts in Big Cottonwood Canyon
a dead duck on the road
Evocations In Exile
Adaptation
I have gone far beyond
Nowhereland

PART V.BIOSCHIZOPHRENIA

Heretic
Bioschizophrenia
The Odyssey of a Dream: Requiescant in pace
Caught Butterfly
Outside the funeral parlor
mom’s gone to church
The Sunflower’s Silence
The Story of My Soul
old blanket poxed
when I’m not looking
you never saw the fire
you can put out a cigar
The Few
so many dead stars

Afterword
By M. R. Ghanoonparvar

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