Jump the Fire: Kurdish spring dance

A Prayer in Spring by Robert Frost
OH, give us pleasure in the flowers today;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orcahrd white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,
To which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends he will,
But which it only needs that we fulfill.

ISTANBUL, TURKEY – MARCH 21: Women in colorful costumes jump over a bonfire during the Newroz celebrations at Topkapi Culture Park in Istanbul, Turkey on March 21, 2017. The fires are symbolic of the dark season (winter) ending and the light season (Spring) beginning. It is a custom to jump over these fires as a metaphor for entering the new year.

Newroz is the March 21st festival that marks the beginning of spring and is celebrated mainly in Iran, Afghanistan, India, Turkic republics such as Azerbaijan, Caucasus countries, Albania and Macedonia.

Let’s make our Nowruz celebration a happier one by spending it together. Wish you a more than ever Happy Nowruz! -Anonymous

An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves. Bill Vaughn We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day. Edith Lovejoy

See more photos here.