Shabdaguchha
Shabdaguchha
Abul HasanLife and DeathDeath will take me but the United Nations will not. So, to the intellectual seminars, to the poetry societies And the general public— I want to say this before I die: Gentlemen, please stop, Please be quiet like a rose. What’s the benefit of war? What’s the benefit of enmity? Why do you always strive to occupy? The news of your distraction, distortion And casualties are all over the Papers . . . Man went to the moon, And I got love— But you still did not stop the violence! You did not recognize the dreams of the poor, You did not hear the beggars. Nobody ever thought to do this, What I did for the entire night! Half of our life is gone: Making love and breeding children. Yet, Gentlemen, Please tell me, How many times we had a chance to say, It's okay, everything's fine. Abul Hasan (1947 - 1975) studied English literature at Dhaka University but was a drop out. He tried to add a new diction into poetry, but did not get enough time. Mr. Hasan published 3 collections of poetry before embracing death in a very early age in 1975, right after the publication of his third book. Translated from the Bengali by Hassanal Abdullah |