Awoke
the heroes ; so long swindled, subdued and defeated
Slaves,
those radiating able and elegant things
Fingered
out the black curtain from eyes ;
Lopped
of the glaring gold chains from arms, lions,
necks and waists
And
arose the heroes strong, more elegant than the sunset
More
dreadful than the sunrise ; on their left they saw
The
sick people arrayed with whip at hands
And
a ruined pale and dying nature on their right.
Those
healthy dreamy, immortal and smart
talented things
Had
so long been vanquished, exploited, hated
By
joint conspiracy of nature and man. And at last
they rose
In
real and unreal hunger with their flesh and dream,
Looked
around the cheerful meat, green vegetables,
the reddish grapes
And
plenty of drinks. Just before the assembled
audience
Happily
a microphone had devoured an orator
as if he was delicious greens,
And
a camera had swallowed his unclothed figure
Modelled
with fresh and new cheese,
The
mattress in its wide open red-flooded mouth
Dip
place the mating couples as if they were roasted meat ;
The
telly had swallowed the delighted mob
and the chairs ;
Started
chewing like chewing gums the teachers and
damsel learners
With
theirs rustling tongues.
Flats
of all houses of towns, cottages of countries
and woods
Did
silently digest their dwellers inside dream-eater wombs.
Swallowed
the fliers all adorned with sarees and suits,
lips
and skins
And
away the planes had flown thus eating the flesh of the blue
At
a speed of thousand miles per hour enroute to dream.
Towers
did share a neat beauty with surrounding
things
and air
With
their wide open red coloured beaks
Took
the municipal parks adorned in green ;
Books
so silently with their diamond teeth did cut the
she-readers love-hot and red,
An
enormous shining truck a coloured
tiger of the Sundarbans
Beautified
the twilight and jumped at the finest Krishnachura
Of
deer-like-timid Bangaladesh. Shone with the touch
Of
a bright coloured maiden red tippled amidst
February mist
The
solemn Shahid Minar drank all the coloured wreaths.
As
well as the morn’-stricken walkers who put the wreaths,
In
all crossing of the town, seated on isles
The
surreal fascinating tram with boundless joy
Did
tear up and take the green flesh of a poet,
bowed down to nature,
Also
his yellow brain, grey coloured heart.
Metropolis’
highest tower ready for a tryst
Aushed
the giant water-lily of Matijheel on chest
And
entered in to a tunnel of dreams as does the
penetrating jeans
At
the horizon of his schoolgoing lover, aged fifteen;
Swollen,
extended and elongated like a diamond limb
The
avenue entered in to warm and sharp triangular temple
Of
his lover aged sixteen, smiling as moonset,
waiting at the cross-road
Holding
up her gold petti-coat with hands ;
The
drowsy light post did take the far oscillating moon
For
a blouse-swelling breast of youthful early darling
And
to the horizon he lengthened his right hand,
Left
one to the east for another breast . Ignoring
fear of death and pain
The
fascinating lover truck from over the bridge
Plunged
in to the Padma, he took it for the body of his wife.
The
night train did take the thigh of a waiting maiden
For
its rail slipped off dream and ran over jingling
and
trembling
From
one end of the world to the other
whistling beneath the blue and clouds
A
piece of stone slept keeping its lips over the
diamond cheeks ;
On
the left there trembled the sick people in rows,
The
pale ruined dying
nature, blue at the fear of
death did shiver on the right.
Translated by Abid Anwar
Humayun
Azad
(1947-2005)