Seashell

Comrade!


When you step into the streets today,
fill your pockets with seashells.

Wherever they seize you,
scatter a handful on the ground.

For every comrade struck by bullets,
press seashells to their wounds.

For every fallen friend,
place a shell in their hand.

And when you cry out in unity,
cast seashells into the sky.

Seashells—
carry the scent of the sea.
Seashells—
hold the boundless horizon of tomorrow.
Seashells—
mark the unmarked graves of comrades.

Postscript:
1- In Khavaran*, sometimes, where a comrade is believed to be buried, seashells are found—perhaps placed there by a mother, or by others who loved them, as a silent marker of remembrance.

* Khavaran is a burial site on the outskirts of Tehran, Iran, where victims of state executions—political prisoners—were secretly buried. The site is most notably associated with the 1988 mass executions of political prisoners in Iran, during which thousands of members of opposition groups were executed following summary trials. For decades, families of the victims, human rights activists, and dissidents have visited Khavaran to mourn and mark the graves of their loved ones. However, the Iranian government has consistently attempted to erase traces of the executions, including leveling parts of the site and preventing public gatherings. Despite this, families—especially the Mothers of Khavaran—have continued to place markers such as flowers, stones, and seashells on the unmarked graves.