Pistachios in my Pocket

by Sareh Farmand

Overview

Poet Sareh Farmand was born in Tehran at the start of the Islamic Revolution. In this brave first collection of poems and prose a narrative arc details her family's escape from Iran, detailing their time as immigrants in limbo, and finally, as Landed Immigrants in Canada. Using family anecdotes, memory, public documents, and images to outline her family's story, PISTACHIOS IN MY POCKET moves from the personal to the universal by exploring the influences of migration, political strife, and cultural identity on humanity. Here is a new voice to the conversation on global citizenship and multiculturalism, as themes of loss, home, and belonging are explored in a new way through a wide socio-political lens and personal accounts of a family's unique, yet universal experiences. Ultimately, bringing forward the many ways immigrants are haunted after fleeing for safety and what it means to be Canadian.

Poetry. Middle Eastern Studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781988168692
Publisher:	At Bay Press
Publication date:	10/27/2022
Pages:	140
Sales rank:	938,093
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.20(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Sareh Farmand was born in Tehran at the start of the Islamic Revolution, and grew up in Vancouver, BC. Her first book of poems, Pistachios in my Pocket, follows a narrative arch that tells the story of her family's escape from Iran and their experiences as first wave Iranian immigrants to Canada. She holds degrees in International Relations and Education from UBC and is a 2018 graduate of SFU's The Writing Studio. She lives in Vancouver, BC with her husband, two sons, and their cat.

Table of Contents

Preface 1

Desert Sky 3

Revolution 5

Morning in Tehran 6

Sapphire 7

Maryam 8

Horses 9

History of the veil 11

Unveiling 13

I 13

II 13

Mullah 15

Mini-jupe 16

Vacay 18

Discordant 19

Deceptions 20

Caviar 21

CIA, M16 22

Changes 25

Rose petals 26

Pennyroyal flower 28

Veiling: the personal is political, 1979 30

I 30

II 31

Mom's handwriting 33

Glass 35

I 35

II 35

III 36

Mix tape 37

God's country 39

New Moon 41

Unhomed 42

River 43

Soft 44

Snow 45

Berlin, 1980 47

Rome, 1981 48

Motherland 50

Harbouring hope 52

Sepi braiding my hair 55

They knock 57

Wish 58

Leave, again 59

Diaphanous 61

Defining 62

Diaspora 63

I 63

II 63

III 64

Northern Lights 67

North Vancouver, 1982 68

Him, New Brunswick, 1983 70

I 70

II 70

III 70

Enisled 72

Khaleh Parvin (Mamaly) 74

Cellophane of saffron 75

I 75

II 76

Dad's immigrant song 78

I 78

II 79

Solace 80

Dear Sally Field, 81

Blood of flowers 83

What am I to you 84

All the things I wanted to say when I was 15 or 16 years old 86

Landed immigrant 88

The mall, 1995 91

Oh we're Italian 93

Sunday morning mourning 94

Safe inside 96

Sound 97

Dis-ease 99

Lucid 102

VIP 104

Seamless 106

Birthday wishes 107

Half moons 109

Thin veil 111

Surrogate family 113

Sepi 115

#westvan 117

I 117

II 117

III 118

Another dimension 120

Ego 121

Epilogue 122

Acknowledgements 123