My Imperiled Shadow Poem by Matin Bairagi

When I remain sitting
When a certain twilight, stretching its last light all around Raise shudders in the tender leaves of the trees
And roll their variegated spectrum up I remain sitting like a barren land
My eyes are, then, in a steadfast look to an end

I know— they won't come back waving rhythmic-white dangles of Autumnal kash* flowers
They won't return to din and bustle of those days They are vanished
And the seagulls are shedding feathers with cries by flapping their wings

I remain sitting alone
Some grasses and shrubs heave their deep sighs around me like the burnt bricks of Harappa*
A night hiccups raising its horns
I know—those who have left us still stay right there like those stayed beforehand
Because they loved the Land and freedom
But now fail to even recognize the land they cherished for!

Translation: Abul Kayyum.


I remain sitting alone
My imperiled existence strolls being an aweful shadow.

* kash: a kind of tall grass with tuft of soft downy white flowers.
* Harappa: an archaeological site in Punjab, Pakistan.