So Did We... Once upon a time a moment, a year, a century, a millennium ago so did we stand here on this planet, on this soil, for a brief instant, just like now, in the silk of the gloom, in the cotton of the sunshine, in the wide, vast balcony of the moonlight, in the strings of the rain, in the eaves of the squall, in the bridal chamber of joy, in the siege of grief, lonely with ourselves, lonely with others, united in love, united in song, full of life, full of death. *** So did we pass on this planet, on this soil, just like you, in a flash of a few years, from this very point at which you're standing now, happy or sad, light-legged or heavily-loaded, free, or captured. So did we, yes, once upon a time, yes, yes, so did we, once upon a time.                From "At the Threshold"                 Ahmad Shamloo