Poem: A Poem For My Mother

By: Shahnaz Nabi

A POEM FOR MY MOTHER

I am not yet your age
And yet
This world is as naught in my eyes.

I see a face beyond every face
Configurations behind every dissected relationship
And I am stone, like you.
Love – betrayal
Camaraderie – treachery
For every abuser, an abused
And the abused without pity
Is “ home” another word for “security’?
At least a place in which to weep has been
Tossed out to me by fate.

So often you said
The long nights come not to bring sleep
The worth of the day lies hidden in the
Fleeting dreams
The season haste away, one by one,
But their silent foot fall
Have we listened to them even till today?

I am not yet your age
And yet
The weight of your experience
Wears me down.
I yearn to perceive this world for myself
So that I can say to myself
My world is not the one my mother knew
And yet the thought comes to me
With a start
Years will go by
Before I untangle myself from the
Cord that binds me to your heart.

English translation by: PROF. KRISHNA SEN