Diana Bolandparvaz

Diana Bolandparvaz is a participant in Poetic Portraits, an intergenerational creative project to showcase the creative talent and diverse life experiences of different generations in Monash.

Diana is a Space Science student and tutor with a passion for written and performance art.

When she’s not studying, you will find her dancing in her living room, going on long hikes, watching theatre in unassuming spaces, and volunteering at the New International Bookshop. 

Maman Marayam

Patterned history, you’ve been patient.

Place your trust in me

I will carry you to foreign lands

to tell your untold story

Bright, shining ribbon

You weave yourself through me.

Let the needle pierce

wrist, shoulder, neck,

back, breast, stomach

Decorate with memory.

I speak to threads older than I

They say nothing in return.

Indigo, would she be proud?

Pink, what did she learn?

Green, does she remember?

Yellow, tell her I’m hers.

So hold me like you held my mother

And the angel that came before.

If the little ones forget

I’ll dress them

in you

once more. 

Dear D

I hope you’re writing still, reading still,

keeping your mind alight.

I hope you’re marching still, chanting still,

fighting the good fight.

I hope you’re dancing still, running still,

laughing with teeth all out.

I hope you’re teaching still, learning still,

making grandma proud.

I hope you’re living still, kissing still,

feeling till your heart explodes.

I hope you’re happy still, just being still,

this I must implore.

For life, one sunny Sunday afternoon,

finally

stands

still.