R

Riches

by Shamsur Rahman

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Translated from Bangla by Md. Ziaul Haque.
When I stand the wall reflects the shadow,
My very own shadow. Two eyes are there
Behind the screen of the glasses, the procession of the khaki
I behold in the city everyday.
There is a head on the shoulder,
The head is beset with black and grey hair. Routinely
The air does pass through the tunnels of the nose.
I have a face,
Two hands, here goes my shirt,
Trousers, wristwatch.
Here is my chest,
The heart keeps beating,
Time and again. I have a pen, it is capped, Now I do write
Amid the wind, pages after pages.
And I have
An ID card ever
As all the urban dogs have
A silver disc around their necks.

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Shamsur Rahman

Shamsur Rahman was a poet, columnist and journalist from Bangladesh. He had written more than 3000 poems collected in about sixty books of poetry. He is one of the brightest stars in Bengali literature. The central themes of his poetry and writings were moderate humanism, romanticised insurgence of youth, human relationships and hatred towards superstitious beliefs.

Most of Shamsur Rahman’s poems were written in free verse especially with the rhythm mode called Poyaar or Okhshorbritto. He also wrote verses in two other major patterns, Shwarobritto and Matrabritto.

Shamsur Rahman is remembered as a bona fide artist of the Bangali psyche. Shamsur Rahman breathed his last on 17 August 2006, then aged 77, after a 12 day coma following illness of heart and kidneys.