The Crowned Cannibals: Three Poems

The Crowned Cannibals: Three Poems

Reza Baraheni, born in Iran in 1935, is one of the leading modern poets of his country. In 1973 he was kidnapped by SA VAK, the secret police of Iran. During the 102 days of his imprisonment, he was repeatedly tortured and beaten to make him admit to political “treason.” He was released in December of that year through the efforts of European and American writers and now lives as an exile in the United States. The poems that appear below, all touching in one way or another on his traumatic experience with SAVAK, are taken from his recently published book, The Crowned Cannibals, copyright 1976, 1977 by Reza Baraheni, a powerful and impassioned attack on the tyranny of the Shah and the bestial methods used by the S...