DEPARTURE OF THE DEAD Tasneem Hossain
Travelling through the darkness of night;
Journeying
across plains and mountains,
Oceans
and the sky in daylight;
I
cross the realms of reality, illusions and dreams.
Corrupt
cells burning through veins circling in blaze;
Fever
and frenzy, distaste and bone jerking pain;
Arrows
and needles prick with insurmountable aches.
Hollow
eyes, spotted blue skin;
Medicines
pile, injections increase;
Hungry
yet nothing I can eat.
Days
and nights crawl like a snail in distress.
Frequent
visits to hospital beds;
Medication,
injection oxygen fail;
There
is a knock at the door.
Nothingness
surrounds, Darkness engulfs.
Mother
cries, father sighs,
Weariness
of the declining cells
Give
way to the profound light from the skies.
ETERNAL
LIFE
Sun may shine today or tomorrow decline,
light of sun it holds inside;
shinning brighter, it will forever rise.
Thunderstorms darken the blue sky above,
clouds and lightening covers, blanket of
gloom;
the blue sky forever shines anew.
The moon eclipses, covered with darkness
soon;
sun’s love lightens, glows fully bright
the new moon
dazzling the dark sky in silvery bloom.
The never ending water of oceans flow,
wombs of the oceans forever with water
grow;
Tsunami’s tidal waves drown the earth
below,
Earth with nature’s abundance, surfaces
meadows.
Small gestures of friendship, love and
blessings
meaningful moments of happiness remain;
small miracles happen in different forms.
Dreams come true, we transform.
Time may fly, one may die.
The soul forever in heaven flies.
I AM A PROSTITUE
Dazzling
a smile, through cheap lipstick I wink,
Making
the onlookers drool and blink;
Adorned
in tight skirts with slits,
Low
necked blouse and tight fitted jeans,
Painted
nails with matching high heels.
Let
the lechers know what I mean.
Don’t
care what others may think,
I
am a ‘leper’ or a ‘dirty chick’.
Drenched
in strong perfume I let the beggars beg.
Drown
in oblivion, I take too many pegs.
Crying
in the rain, filled with filth
Washing
away my so called sins and silt;
O
you great passersby!
Don’t
you dare judge me or even try,
For
little do you know how I came here and why.
I
was for them just a costly good to supply.
However
much I shriek or cry,
Here
my freedom is denied.
These
are not the choices I have made,
I
am a slave of human trade.
Tasneem Hossain is a
multi-lingual poet (English, Bangla, and Urdu) from Bangladesh. Her wanderings
in other areas of literature include fiction, translation, academic pieces and
op-eds. Her writings appear in anthologies, different dailies, and annual
publications of different countries. E.g. International Human Rights Art
Festival, Southern Arizona Press (USA), Borderless Journal (Singapore),
Polis Magazino (Greece), Migosepta Global (Indonesia), Discover
Mississauga and More-eBook (Canada), Krishnochura (UK), EDAS
Chronicle, The Dhaka Literature, An Ekushey Anthology, bdnews24.com, The
Daily Star, The Business Standard and Asian Age Online (Bangladesh).
Her published poetry books are The Pearl Necklace, Floating Feathers, and
Grass in Green (published in USA); and a book of articles Split and
Splice. She majored in English Language and Literature from Dhaka University.
She is the Director of Continuing Education Centre, a human capacity
development organisation. She worked as faculty in Chittagong University of
Engineering and Technology (CUET). She also worked as newscaster, commentary
reader, interviewer, and radio presenter in radio Bangladesh for 10 years and
participated in many national sports championships. She resides both in Canada
and Bangladesh.
Brilliant musings ma'am
ReplyDeleteHumble thanks
DeleteBeautifully written poems on such meaningful content! Wonderful read.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your inspirational compliment
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