—— POEM 𝒃𝒚 Nasim Khan

I’ve three roles to play:

The first one is of a young man

Who now talks to none.

He doesn’t even ask himself

Why he’s stopped speaking.

In the evening,

He often sits on the beach,

Writing and wiping the word “Life”

On the sand.

The second one is of a child.

For months,

He has been worried,

About his tattered shoes.

He doesn’t like.

His school mates,

Who keep making fun of him.

He should build a sand castle,

And take refuge in there,

But it doesn’t occur to him.

A college student who fancies grammar.

One day, he expresses his love to a girl.

After writing, “I love you”,

He puts a full stop,

And his life comes to a dead end.

For years he has been thinking,

Now he should toss,

All of his punctuated sentences

Into the sea.

People can do nothing,

But shovel the graves,

Of the size of us.

They can’t give us a room

In their hearts.

I haven’t read it anywhere,

But we ought to scribble it;

“We should ask for permission

From the people

Before we fall for them.”

Ever since my amour collapsed,

I write every poem as an adieu —

A worst curse,

We cast upon.

My name is Nasim Khan,

And I’m cowardice.

She’s left me. Yes, she’s left me.

My name is Nasim,

And I feel an acute pain in my chest,

Lettering these words,

In a strange and far away city,

Away from my mom,

Lying on the bed,

Desperately desiring to personate me in my mom,

To kiss her son on the forehead,

And keep patting his head,

Until he falls asleep.

….

                                                                                              (Translated from Urdu by Mustafa Liwal)

                                                                                                     ****