Two Poems by Mohibul Aziz

 

Prayer for the Future

 

O God, in my next life give me birth in a place where  

Wise people were born. 

You are the owner of the entire world 

So every place on earth is sacred. 

Standing in that sacred place 

I’ll be a fruit tree and teach people: 

When a tree bears fruit, it bends towards the ground. 

Give me birth in a place  

Where birds and squirrels won't run away when they see me,  

Small food chambers for birds would hang from trees. 

Give me birth in a place where people won't stand around  

With knives in their hands, ready to kill others. 

Where you can see the sky through the window,  

Won't see the terrifying face of an assassin. 

Give birth in a place where children dream of flowers  

Blooming in gardens for miles and miles 

And they’d wake up to the wonderful fragrance of flowers. 

 

 

The Crow-Artistry

  

As I was curled up in my pain 

I saw a hungry crow sticking its beak out my window. 

It was actually a prisoner in the open sky 

Just as we are free within the narrow confines of our homes. 

The pitiful crows are jealous of our happiness 

So they spend every moment thinking about robbing us. 

They follow us very closely and 

Choose a sturdy tree near our house to build their nest. 

And from there they verbally abuse us all day long. 

 

Mohibul Aziz was born in Jessore, Bangladesh in 1962. He permanently lives in Chattogram where he is a Professor of the department of Bengali Language and Literature, University of Chittagong. He is the author of nearly seventy books of various genres such as fiction, novel, essays and poems. All of the books are in Bengali. Private Moments, Resurrection of a Reformist and The Memory-Struck Swan of Cambridge are his three books of poetry published in English. His poems have been published in the Lothlorien Poetry Journal and the Setu Bilingual Journal and elsewhere.