You Laughed

Poem by Mahsan Ahmadpour · Translated from the Persian

You laughed to say you were fine.
You should have laughed with your eyes closed,
because in your pupils
a thousand women in black
are weeping.
You should have laughed with your lips closed,
because a woman
is hanging from the roof of your mouth.
You should have laughed without breathing,
because the weight of your breath
is gloomier than dusk in a city
where behind every window a man is smoking.