Poem: Companians Of Cracked Walls

By: Shahnaz Nabi

COMPANIONS OF CRACKED WALLS


Life is the name
Of scouring moss from damp courtyards
Or gathering the chipped bits of plaster
Peeling from termite- ridden walls
Morning dawns with the noise of utensils
Rest of the day is still ahead
A day of striving to fill empty utensils
With food.

A day of beginning once again
The struggle for survival and livelihood
Of encountering in buses and trams
A skin- abrading crowd.
Life is trying to walk steadily
Upon uneven paths
Life is a constant skirmish.

Is there any difference between
The roads of the city and the paths of our dreams
Both are unrealized
Both demand from us the balance of a juggler.

My sister and I
Both within and without
Are the companions of the cracks
That occurs in the termite – ridden walls
Why is life not the name of adhering these cracks?

Translation by: Shabina Nishat Omar