God's Masterpiece

Shirin Tabibzadeh

I saw your picture lying down in the morgue
God's masterpiece
You looked exactly like David
Michelangelo's masterpiece
Except that:
Your body seemed so well proportioned
But David's head is a bit too big
For its form.

Your face was ivory pale
Your eyes huge
Exactly like David's
Except that:
Yours were closed
As if asleep,
For a thousand years
But David's eyes are open
Looking at eternity
With a blank gaze .

You had the perfect nose
Exactly like David
Except that:
Your nose was Persian
But David has a Roman nose
Same lips
But yours were a bit apart
As if to death you smiled
But David's lips
Are a bit too tight.

Same long neck
Same broad shoulders
Same wide chest
Except that
You had a deep puncture
On the left side
Of your chest
Where one day
Your young heart
Used to rest
But David, as far as I know
Never even had a heart.

---
Oh my friend, my son, my brother,
I don't know your name
I don't know the whereabouts
Of your young grave
I don't know your mother,
Your father,
Your sisters and brothers.

I don't know the women
Who loved you once
Oh no, who adored you
And worshiped you once
Are they all doing fine?.

I only know that it is so unfair,
So unfair
You perished at your prime
But David has been worshipped
For centuries
While standing at the corner
Of Piazza della Signoria square
And people will forever
For its beauty care
Oh my friend, it all is so unfair

God's masterpiece
And Michelangelo's masterpiece