Of Stream and Light
The bloody stream
by Rezauddin Stalin
Blood is oozing over the sword
On to the ground
Seeping through the cheek to the feet
From heart to the stars
This bloody stream appears red and black seems numb and cruel
Flowing through Padma, Meghna and Brahmaputra rivers
The bloody stream poured into the Bay of Bengal
Flowing for time eternal
The bloody stream flooded the revolution with enriched silt
Made it more forceful
Blood seems to be on the crest of the waves
Mixed with sludge
The bloody stream oozes from the heart
Following the foot steps
Breaking through the cycles of days and nights
Among all greens, as far as one can see
In the eyes of men searching for the sun and in the sky
For generations, blood offerings of human and nature
Follow their dream
No one knows when this bloody stream will stop
Or where will it end and in which country?
And in whose dream shattered palm?
Translated by: Dr Gulshan Ara Kazi
Immaculate Light
by Farah Naz
Still I saunter into the darkness
Knowing not even a ghostly shadow
to smack, let alone care.
Through the empty corridor
voicelessly and eerily
darkness gets darker
A fathomless dark
Murky shades of blackness
A standstill moments of timelessness.
I keep witnessing a wild blue yonder.
Hush-hush, an unanticipated wink
of a time...
An altering shade of obscurity
Hues of changing dots
Slowly and silently darkness evaporates.
Dawn cracks in calmly.
Bashful like young sweethearts.
Like saffron smearing its hues in warm milk,
leaving a sweet aroma to diffuse in air,
dawn tip toes.
Oh, valiant heart!
You keep waking up in the dark,
You still open the windows of soul,
You clear the veil of your eyes
to witness the rays of light...
