THE TWO OF US

One born in darkness
The other in light

Each the other's shadow
Brothers extraordinary

One living in the underworld
The other in a palace

Beneath a divided moon
The two keep drifting away!

WINGS

Waking up at befogged dawn I dart towards morning
I beckon the sun with a cup of tea
As I sip
A shalik bird flies and lands in the dust.

Thinking of that shalik I invent
Some extraordinary wings.

Time for me to take off!

RIVERS DON'T DISAPPOINT

From the stream of time I asked for its flow
I'm not daunted by debris; rivers don't disappoint.

I drift while looking at fish eyes—
A fishing boat; I'm a downstream man.

Just because it's night time I'm not alone
I've composed a new tune this day
To make rivers, streams, canals and lakes overflow

Only people with oil lamps for company can go with the flow,

Please don't worry though—our rivers
Overflow with poems.

Kamal Chowdhury is a Bangla Academy award winning poet and Secretary of the Government.
Dr Fakrul Alam is an academic, writer, and translator.