Shabdaguchha
Shabdaguchha
Abu Hasan ShahriarA Photo with My MomI envision my mom lying in a clinic-bed. I left her, whose womb I am from, in the edge of my youth. Yes, I left her alone and took the pennies She kept in a knot at the loose end of her sari. We see ourselves thinking about our mom, lying in a clinic-bed. We are some folks unknown to each other now, Surrounding her by the bed. We, who were once brothers and sisters, We, who used to eat from the same plate, Sleep on the same bed, Wake up in the morning together— Now live in apartments in different corners of the city, As if we no longer know each other. We now ponder in our own pendulums. We see ourselves thinking about our mom, lying in a clinic-bed. We, as if some unknown siblings, have our faces framed In a photo surrounding our mom at the time of her death. The smiles of our childhood, fake now, come back For a moment and then fade away with the click of the camera. We capture a moment with our mom and the fake smiles At the time of her death. Abu Hasan Shahriar(1957 - ) is the author of more than 25 books including 8 collections of poetry. His first book of collected essays was published in February, 2000. His work has regularly been published in many literary supplements in Bangladesh, India and abroad. Mr. Shahriar edited a few literary supplements in Bengali. Translated from the Bengali by Hassanal Abdullah |