A Taste of My Existence
By Hosain Mosavat

I was born in Shiraz, Iran–the land of roses, poets and Shiraz wine. So, I was sentenced to be a poet for the rest of my life. As I grew up, I met my true teacher, my Mother. It was the same Mother who sang poetry to put me to sleep and who later on taught me to create poetry, music, calligraphy and painting. From thereafter, I wanted to be a poet, a musician, a calligrapher and a painter, and everything else I could put my heart into. She taught me that I could do anything if I wanted it badly enough. When I was old enough to hold a Persian instrument called tar, she taught me how to play it. I later became an accomplished tar player. And when I got older yet, she taught me painting. I became a photographer as a result. I woke up at almost 30 years of age to realize the seed of poetry she had planted in me. Writing heart-felt poetry became a part of my everyday existence. So far, I have written at least 12,000 poems.

I went to school in Tehran and graduated from high school. Two years before my graduation, the first Revolution in Iran began. The violence was great. The loss of many friends made me feel unwelcome in my own country without freedom. My father decided to send me to America, where I stayed, became a citizen, finished my schooling, and then taught Physics and Mathematics for 30 years. At this time, I began to write poetry. I played music and I photographed extensively, traveling wherever it was possible and photographing as many places as I could physically go to. And all winter I developed and printed those images. I started with a Minnox camera, which has a half of a thumbnail-sized negative, to a 35 mm camera, to an 8”x10” view camera, back down to 5”x7”, because I couldn’t carry that much weight any longer. And now I am totally digital. I married 3 times, one son from my first wife, no fruits from my second wife, and, finally, my third wife, Judy, became the love of my life, the friend I had been looking for. She began to travel with me, carry my tripod, then carry my camera, then complain, then convince me that I should reduce the size of my camera equipment to match my age and my physical ability. Now she carries her own digital camera, her own tripod, and stands in front of my camera to take her own pictures. What a joy to witness her development.

When I first understood the digital world, I fell in love out of necessity for its lightness and portability, which saved Judy from being my private sherpa, and which, once again, got us on the road. Nowadays, with the extensive advance of digital cameras and inkjet printers, I am in heaven. I think digital can actually do better than any film photography. For this belief, I was almost thrown out of our Camera Club. But I persevered.

I retired from teaching in 1993 and am living in Whitmore Lake, Michigan. I’ve taken Judy to Iran twice, Germany once, and all states and Canada many times. We have taken over 30,000 images of Iran and are showing them to clubs, family and friends, and at fund-raising events for good causes. And about a photography book, forget it. What I have put Judy through with this book, if I mention a book of photography, she would surely put me in the doghouse, and that is not where I want to be. It’s too cold in the winter, and not photogenic in the summer.

About my religion, I was raised as a Moslem and witnessed a few Sufis around my Father. I believe my Mother was a Sufi, also, but I didn’t know it. As I learned more and more about religions in general, what people stood for and what they were against, they did not make any godly sense to me. So I began to free myself from beliefs and naturally fell into Sufism. Sufis say either you are nothing or you are everything. Therefore, I am not a Jew nor a Moslem nor a Christian. I’m not a Hindu, Buddhist nor a Zoroastrian. So, I make no distinction between them, and I accept them all at once. This acceptance makes me everything. Therefore, I am a Jew, a Moslem and a Christian, and every other belief that exists. Yet I do not exist as any one of them. I am an image of the creation with one heart. And within that one heart exists a universal love.

As for my age, I was born in 1934. That makes me 73 years old at this time. I don’t plan to live long. I plan to live one day at a time. No, let me amend that. I plan to live one breath at a time.

My hobbies are photography, computers, traveling, poetry, music, woodturning, welding, cooking, friendship, and laughing. I try to be funny when I’m not. I try to bring laughter to any tears. And I don’t really care how crazy I am, as long as I bring laughter every chance I get.

When I came to this country, I had lost many friends in the Revolution. I did not speak English. As a result, I did not have many friends. Going to school was my only contact with people. When I would get back to my dorm room and finish my homework, I would cry of loneliness. I remember once I wrote a letter to my Father, and when I finished it, some of the words on the paper were smeared. I realized it was my fallen tears. No one could understand my tears better than I. So I began to write extensive letters of feelings to the friends and family I left behind. And when I learned English well enough and had left everything behind so I could survive in this country, I had a lot to say. So I began to write poetry in English, however the language was limiting to me. But I was able to relay my feelings. After two broken marriages, a son raised by his mother and a few broken relationships, I began to write emotional poetry. And when I shared it with friends, they encouraged me to write a book, write more and share more. Although I had everything I needed to continue, I needed these friends to keep me going, to light my fire and let me burn in love instead of anger and loneliness. Then I met Judy, my last and only wife, and she became the backbone of my creativity. This is where this book comes from. She inspired it, typed it, chased publishers, begged friends and borrowed to make this book. And that is not the last of it. Between you and me, I think she’s planning to do the next one, for I have written thousands of poems.

In this book, I have 63 poems. Each poem is an image of a living moment in my life. Life as you live it has infinite phrases, poetry, music, colors, songs, sadnesses, happinesses, births and deaths. And a book of life has infinite chapters and a complete universe of feelings. I can only share a few winks at a time. So enjoy this book. Maybe the next book will be yours. If that happens, I am finished with poetry, for you will be writing my poetry coming out of your heart, which means we have become one.

In November of 2006, I almost died. For no reason at all, I survived. As I looked at my life in total, I’ve done everything. Since then, this book has taken on a life of its own. I have written many more poems than even surprises me. I sometimes have to rush out of the bathroom or get up in the middle of the night to write a poem. It is coming to me that the reason I am alive today is to share what I can offer. And that is, in fact, the very reason for any human being to be alive: to spread enduring love and care and to raise the safety of humanity, so we can stand together as beacons of love. I am humbled to live among you, my dear ones. In oneness, we become one family of mankind. We can heal and be healed. We can sing, dance and be merry in any language. We need to be the eyes for those who are unable to see. We need to be the voices of people everywhere. This is our destiny. I live to see this.