Bänoo Zan
Testimony*
The people knew that the enemy was their enemy
but they knew that the enemy within
was more bloodthirsty
than the enemy beyond the borders
and the people prayed for the worst
because they had suffered
worse than the worst
and they were brought to believe
they had no power over their destiny
so they prayed that destiny would yield to power
and so it was that power was unleashed against power
The people cried—
We are out of power—
May those who will fall from power
see justice in the end
The people cried—
The enemies within and beyond the borders
seek power for themselves
We are still powerless, hopeless, dreamless
We no longer believe
those who held their tongues
when we were butchered by our own—
We no longer believe
in the blood-thirsty god
in whose name we were killed
And the people tried to
bring down their oppressors with bare hands
but they failed
so they prayed
and when people pray with broken hearts
their prayers shatter the gates of hell
and the rivers of blood overflow their banks
I am a poet
I pray with my people and hope with my people
I break and bleed with my people
I live and die with my people
The people cannot wake
from a waking nightmare
The enemies have robbed them of
their inheritance and dreams
their words and silence
their resistance and hope
The people cannot tell one nightmare from another
They cannot build dreams out of nightmares
They are dancing on the grave of their dreams
***
*This poem responds to American and Israeli war on Iran that started on February 28, 2026, as well as the massacre committed by the Islamic Republic against peaceful protestors on January 8 and 9, 2026, that has claimed thousands of lives.
“As a war correspondent in verse, I respond to conflicts and atrocities in my poetry. This is no easy task, as the ultimate mission of art is to stay faithful to truth in all its complexity. Poetry is not political partisanship. It is an attempt at understanding the world. The word for poetry currently in use in Persian is she’r (شعر). It is an Arabic word whose roots mean “understanding”, “comprehension”, and “knowing”.
The poem ‘Testimony’ tries to capture the complex reactions of Iranians inside and outside Iran to the recent massacre and ongoing war. On January 8 and 9, the Islamic Republic brought out its military and militias against protestors, with the order to shoot to kill. By some accounts, tens of thousands have been killed and tens of thousands more arrested. This deadly campaign has continued even during the war launched by the United States and Israel.
The brutal massacre of protesters was a watershed moment for many Iranians. That was when in desperation some of them supported an attack by foreign countries in the hopes that the regime would be overthrown. Even now, under heavy bombardment, the nightmare that haunts some people inside Iran is the end of the war before the end of the Islamic Republic.
I oppose war. I don’t believe that war will bring liberation or democracy. As an Iranian, I remind my fellow anti-war activists that the Islamic Republic has been in constant war against its own citizens. I invite them to oppose this most brutal of wars as strongly as they oppose wars across borders.
As a war correspondent, I do not privilege my own perspective but instead try to help readers understand what others go through. This poem is an attempt at truthful reporting. It tries to be a poem in the Arabic sense of the word.
It was not an easy poem to write. It is a poem I wish I didn’t have to write. It is a poem I didn’t have the luxury not to write.” —Bänoo Zan
Bänoo Zan is a poet, translator, and curator, with numerous published pieces and books including Songs of Exile and Letters to My Father. She is the founder of Shab-e She’r (Poetry Night), Canada’s most diverse and brave poetry open mic series (inception 2012). It bridges the gap between poets from different ethnicities, nationalities, religions (or lack thereof), ages, genders, sexual orientations, abilities, poetic styles, voices, and visions. Bänoo, with Cy Strom, is the co-editor of the anthology: Woman Life Freedom: Poems for the Iranian Revolution. She was given Life Membership in the League of Canadian Poets in 2024 and is the recipient of the 2025 Writers’ Union of Canada Freedom to Read Award.
