silent piece of paperRifat Islam Eshamy love
is a silent walk
in a colourful night--
gruff and drowsy
breaths
in between
brittle words
my love
is
in revision
after heavy rain--
a messy draft
mostly splayed ink
on my arm
my love
is just a silent
thought
folded
piece of paper
that will be left behind.Of desire burnt into memories Firoz Mahmud Ahsan ShuvoIn memory of the rift between Freud and Jung
Sweet were those days
when you and I used to
ride on an ahistorical fireball.
The desire rolled and got
licked hard; the moment froze,
and the hearts were all keyed up.
We had to make a detour
around the heaviest traffic
in that godforsaken city, remember?
On our way we did what we did:
I burned you to ashes,
and your words burned into my memories.
On that day
hi(s)tory was made for us,
and since then I’ve cringed into
a burnt child sans desires.lightSarah Tabassumone brick at a time
she scraped away
cries of desperation and help
beneath collapsed walls
through upright rods
like daggers ready to stab
one brick at a time
she scraped away
demolished bodies
the nauseating sight
of an ill-fated mess
one brick at a time
she scraped away
a murder
a massacre
a denial
of lives lost and forgotten
one brick at a time
she scraped away
with one remaining hand
seeking
retribution
survival
for a glimpse of light.A Dhaka minuteIkhtisad Ahmed A car, a hopeful meanderer,
Static in perpetual motion, an equilibrium
Unwanted, undesired, but
The only inevitable.
Inside, the air is conditioned, cool –
Outside, an almighty inferno.
The temple, once hallowed, now erring, ablaze,
The slum, once homes, now ablaze,
The bus, a promise of transference, ablaze,
The rickshaw, a livelihood, ablaze,
The flesh, once human, destitute, desperate, despicable,
Once alive, now consumed by the blaze.
Inside the car, aglow with
Health and vivacity,
Wealth and virility;
Indubitably preponderant, awash with
The only green that matters,
An infallible deceit that flatters.
Outside, a macabre imponderable,
Inside, insulated, pondering the superficial.
Digital clock ensconced in leather dashboard
Resets from fifty-nine to zero –
Irked inhale, a haughty exhale,
No motion, the count begins again.EmotionMohammad Shafiqul IslamYour emotion courses like water in the river
Your passion gusts like simoom in the desert
Sludge in the streets, erotic yearning in mind
You imagine in misery, hunger silences life
Memory casts a shadow over your summer
And wards you off from love and light of life
You see dogs dine with kids as if they’re crows
Banana peels and leftovers sell in blood price
Butterflies are no more fascinated with flowers
Evening stars do not correspond to pastures
Mirror images scream and paper boats float
You drown – bones, shadows and silence speak
Your emotion courses like water in the river
Your passion gusts like simoom in the desert
Thursday, April 25, 2024
