Vox Populi
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Majid Naficy: The Engraver
In Memory of Ezzat’s Father
At the threshold of the Revolution
With a magnifier on your eye
And a chisel and a hammer in your hands
You bent your back for hours
And engraved joyfully
The frowning face of the ayatollah
Tap by tap
On a copper plate
And hung it on the wall.
Alas, three years later
In Railroad Park
You sat next to me in grief.
You put on your eyeglasses
And read me your daughter’s will
Word by word.
I heard in your voice
The sound of bullets
One by one
And told myself:
What’s upon us
Came from us.
Copyright 2021 Majid Naficy
In the 1970s, Majid Naficy was politically active against the Shah’s regime. However, after the 1979 Revolution, the new regime began to suppress the opposition, and many people, including Majid’s first wife Ezzat Tabaian and his brother Said were executed. He fled Iran in 1983 and spent a year and a half in Turkey and France. Majid then settled in Los Angeles where he lives with his son, Azad. Majid is the author of many books in Persian and in English including Father & Son (Red Hen, 2003).
Javad Tabaian, the artist engraving on metal, Isfahan, 2011
Vox Populi 
I was on pilgrimage to Iran before the revolution. Many women wore western clothes. On the first lap Begin was on the same plane and the Kosher chicken went bad from the security delays. Thus I found myself in a hospital with an IV. The people were so kind to care for a sick woman traveling alone. I do remember seeing people flagellating themselves at the airport. I still don’t understand why humans must hate.
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