Suggestions for Candle Names After Visiting Iran

Mehrnoosh Torbatnejad

Blue Flame Plume                  Motorcycle Musk

Cooled Watermelon Stream              In-season Lime

Open Fire Embers                   New Year Nougat

            Rosewater Splash                              Walnut Basil

Rinsed Concrete Morning      Crisp Cardamom

            Turquoise Breeze                               Sun-soaked Roof 

Orange Blossom Twilight      Breath of Mountain

            Flatbread Dawn                                  Evening Backyard Tea

Poet’s Garden                         Night-kissed River

            Peeled Tangerine                               Sway of Cypress          

Washed Stemmed Mint          Mottled Daylight                                 

Palm Tree Forest                                Road Stop Valley

Infused Saffron                       Wind-carried Jasmine

            Ancient Alley                                     Incandescent Dusk

Crackling Wild Rue                My Aunt’s Embrace

            My Cousin’s Hands                            And What Is the Smell

Of That Tunnel                       That Connects to the Plane                                        

When You Land                                 The Loading Bridge               

Smoky Memory                      Aching Arrival                                   

Gust of Hope                                      Should I Even Name It          

It’s the Same Scent                 When I Leave

Mehrnoosh Torbatnejad is a poet and attorney. Her poetry has appeared in The Best American Poetry, New England Review, and Cincinnati Review among others, and is forthcoming in Ploughshares. She won the 2019 LUMINA La Lengua contest and the 2016 Pinch Literary Prize, and is a Best of the Net, Pushcart Prize, and Best New Poets nominee. She lives in New York.