Protester Profile: The Couple

by Bänoo Zan / February 8th, 2026

The dead woman is smiling
In this photo
she is not dead

long black hair
round face
peaceful and serene

flanked by her children
on either side

Her husband has his arm around her
He is looking at her

Both are smiling

When the protests started
the couple left their children
in the care of family
after work

joined the protests
and never came back

* Mansoureh Heydari and her husband Behrouz Mansouri participated in anti-regime protests in Iran on January 8, 2026 and were killed by security forces.

Bänoo Zan is a poet, librettist, translator, teacher, editor and poetry curator, with more than 250 published poems and poetry-related pieces as well as three books including Songs of Exile and Letters to My Father. She is the founder of Shab-e She’r (Poetry Night), Toronto’s most diverse and brave poetry reading and open mic series (inception: 2012). Her social media links are: LinkedIn; Instagram; Facebook; Twitter Bänoo, along with Cy Strom, is the co-editor of the anthology Woman Life Freedom: Poems for the Iranian Revolution. Read other articles by Bänoo.

This article was posted on Sunday, February 8th, 2026 at 8:00am and is filed under Poetry.