Few words and a starting line You’re not a poet Using commas, abusing aroma You’re not a poet Trying to rhyme with words that don’t align You’re not a poet Forget rhymes, putting emphasis on life You’re not a poet Using abstract rigid words as an idiom You’re not a poet Philosophical pondering, meaning lost …
The Piss Song
I made love at war sites.At Hiroshima, at Nanjing, at DhakaI ran through blood and the fresh paints.I sang through the cracks of the new buildings,Caressed the strong, high monuments as they were raised. One woman smirked,“You can’t do it like that,You have to sit on it,and please!” One man stared,“You go girl,Undo yourself,Let not …
Shifting the Focus From Sylvia Plath’s Tragic Death to Her Brilliant Life
RED COMETThe Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia PlathBy Heather Clark What becomes a legend most? As suggested by the old black-and-white Blackglama fur ads, featuring Lena Horne, Diana Vreeland and Cher, among others, legends are people who have soared beyond fame or celebrity into a more rarefied, inaccessible stratosphere. Today’s media-fixated, Kardashian-dominated world …
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Jimmy Hoffa Is In Bangladesh
They found Jimmy Hoffa,Halfway around the world, in Bangladesh;White saviour dispatched to stop aProud civilisation from becoming a mess.Magically reappeared, off to his address –He was put in a CNG, or on a bus,Maybe on a truck loaded with fish?At least he was not sleeping with them!Not enough formalin in all of BangladeshTo bring a …
A Garden Full of Love
A heavy lower jawand a burning heart has convincedyou you’re a dragonFree to lift up my roofa hundred feet and light it intoa bright red cloudFrom which soot,black as intent,falls with a little bit of abandon and a littlebit of indecision.The floor is revolting likethe sky—they have each otherwhy need I be sorry?When you moved …
থ্যাঙ্কসগিভিং
ভুলে, আমার মাথা খুজে পাইবিছানায়, ধুয়ে-মুছে ওর জানালার-কিনারায়এতো সব চোদার পরেও, দেখ!আকাশ ঝুলে আছে, আলপিনের তলায়চোখ বন্ধে, ওর নাক আরো লম্বাপুরা সময়, ওকে ধরে আছি,ভিড়ে, মোচড়ানো, ভাজে,মোড়ণে, মাথা নত, আলহামদুলিল্লাহএমন কারো জন্য যে আমার দমবন্ধ করে রাখে। আমি ওর জীবনের উপরএতো হালকা হয়ে পরবো বোধগম্যই হবে নাআমি তার।কোন দাগ ছাড়বো নাওর বালিশে, কাগজেডিভিডি, ছুরি, ওয়াইনের …
Peripheries
I am the night, coaxing in quiet yet murmuring lakesand slippery, rain-coated cobbled streets – freshly writtenlike a round faced moon. With the andromeda of old buildings and the arc of music jingles, on the ears, walking home from classes conducted at evening. I am the solitary. Looping on music, watching videos, streaming into digital …
The Erasure of Islam from the Poetry of Rumi
A couple of years ago, when Coldplay’s Chris Martin was going through a divorce from the actress Gwyneth Paltrow and feeling down, a friend gave him a book to lift his spirits. It was a collection of poetry by Jalaluddin Rumi, the thirteenth-century Persian poet, translated by Coleman Barks. “It kind of changed my life,” …
Space
Empty. Blank. Hollow. Void…Break. Gap. Clear. Open. Free. Space is grey. Ashes. Concrete. Metals. Fumes. VILESpace is fluid. Eyes. Water. Air. PURE “I need a break.”SpaceIt’s over.“I need a break.”SpaceTo start afresh. “I have nothing to say.”SpaceDistance.“I have nothing to say.”SpaceComfort. “I need a gap.”Space Disruption of flow.“I need a gap.”SpaceInterval leading to momentum. “I lack purpose.”SpaceDisarray.“I lack purpose.”SpaceA …
আঁইচগাতি গ্রাম
কার কাছে থাকি বলো দুপুর নির্জন হয়ে এলেকার কাছে হামাগুড়ি দিঘির শীতল কালো জলে রুপার সিন্দুক ভরা গোপনে হৃদয় তুলে রাখিসোনার কাঁকন পরা প্রতিদিন কারে দেই ফাঁকি কার কাছে খোলা যায় একগাছি এলোকেশী চুলখোলা চিঠি লিখে যাচ্ছি প্রতিদিন সম্বোধন ভুল। রূপসা নদীর পাড়ে শীতল আঁইচগাতি গ্রামস্মৃতি কাতরতা দূরে নিঃশ্বাস ক্লান্ত অবিরাম। পড়ার টেবিল জুড়ে কাটাকাটি …