Hadassah

Hadassah

Hadassah, pearl of Persia

Woman from out of Asia

Alpine daughter, red and white

Early gray yet a smile so young.

May all your Khmer children

Gather round on warm evenings

Full with the on rushing tropical breeze

Bearing the fecund scent of paddi mud.

To share your time and words

With open mouths full of laughter

Days full of moments lush with loveliness

Beautiful with green and gray, evening clouds and grass.

Black and white, fine checks on

Unlikely tropical scarves among nasal

French and curves of Sanskrit on old stone

Temples among the wats and banyan trees. 

Hadassah, white orient pearl

May half an emperor’s kingdom be yours

And love fill the bowls at the feasts you give

And friends be many, fresh, and vibrant

Gathered from the four corners of the earth,

Out of the Seven Seas, blown to your shore

By the winds at the edges of the wide world

Drawn by the archangels of heaven to complete your company

To give glory to your God, and mine,

And complete the covering of the corner of his garment

Over you, O daughter of the East

O splendor of Iran.