Inscriptions Poem by Sofiul Azam

A poet, by definition, needs words if I am that ever.
No matter if I'm burning up here or it's freezing out there.

I'm a worrywart, and my work's an extension of what I am.
You'll be amused by my worries as they are happily not yours.

After reading it, tell me whether it's a comedy acted out
by a grimfaced player or a Sophocles tragedy by a clown like me.

When you see no way out from a ring of fire, don't lose heart.
Who knows there won't be water to jump into beyond that?

My heart fills with hurts and humiliations amid laughter.
I'm an oyster turning them all into pearls just for you.

Life's a file of moments that we share with each other
in either happiness or sorrows. Mark it's all this plain for sure.

I always wanted to be a giant. How would you see me
if I were too small to be seen except through microscopic lenses?

I felt like saying, 'The giant has come back again, to tickle you,
not to scare the hell out of you.' Pretty weird, isn't it?

I'm stupid to have often dipped in the ditch to know
it's full of filth. Don't you think my stupidity is remarkable?

I know supporters always supported me 'You smell wonderful'
whereas I stank like a kitten swollen up in rot. Didn't I?

Is there an artist whose path isn't strewn with thorns?
Tread carefully if you are one because you may bleed to death.

Somewhere I've heard a cornered scorpion stings itself to death.
I'm so thankful I don't need to. What are then critics for?

I'll be dead like a planet in a black hole. With the analogy
put aside, would you type it up on behalf of this whistleblower?


from SAFE UNDER WATER (2014)