I am studying Creative Writing at the University of Arizona and, in a nod to my heritage, I am learning Persian as a second language. As part of the department’s end-of-year Persian showcase, my professor invited me to translate a contemporary Iranian poem into English and learn the original poem in Persian.

Because of how timeless the poem is and how poignant its message is even today, I hope you will enjoy this translation of Sohrab Sepehri’s poem آب را گل نکنیم, or Let us not Muddy the Water.