( For Nazannin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori)

How strange it must be

to be in the air,

to be free…

do you feel it yet,

or is your heart beating

wildly,

is your mind

racing with worries?

Are you wondering

if this is all a dream?

It seems like a dream

to me,

and I haven’t suffered

as you have,

your names have been

in and out

of the news,

buried under Covid statistics,

and war reports…

I wonder how much you have changed,

what support you will need?

I hope that the press won’t hound you,

and that your return

will be as smooth as possible…

How does it feel to be free?

Will you ever be really free?

I hope so….