PINOY POETS IN PERSEPOLIS

Fourteen years make for deep enough memory.

- ALFRED A. YUSON

But geopolitical events that recently gripped global attention revived milestone moments when fellow poet Ricardo M. de Ungria and I found ourselves touring the ruins of Persepolis in October of 2011.

As the USA followed up Israel's aerial bombardment with haymakers that included bunker busters, CNN's map of Iran showing suspected nuclear development sites had me on empathetic tenterhooks. One of these sites was Estakhr, which I recalled to be proximate to Persepolis—14 kilometers away, in fact.

I hoped that Trump wouldn't be compared to Alexander the Great, who turned the historic ceremonial capital into ruins in 330 BC. Thank the skies for the skills of MAGA's Air Force; the ruins that are a UNESCO World Heritage Site avoided a state of smithereens.

Thanks to translator and interpreter Dr. B Samadi of the Cultural Office of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Manila, Ricky and I were invited to the Second Congress of Iranian and International Poets from Oct. 8 to 14, 2011 on a generous stipend. The flags of over 40 countries were arrayed in front of the Laleh International Hotel in Tehran where the visiting poets were billeted. Young Iranians composed the secretariat at the lobby.

On a free day, we wandered about Lahle Park nearby, on our own. Later we were told that we had to notify the secretariat before conducting such freeform activities. The organizers were intent on providing strict security for all guests all the time.