Two poems of Badruzzaman Alamgir

Internal Avenue

How far million miles are?
Don’t ask this to a scientist
a professor neither.
Ask this question to a tree
Who never walks a step.
What is a loving touch?
Never ask this question to a
Zoo curator, nor a doctor.
Ask this to a by born blind man
Who doesn’t look the difference
between fire flame and ice cubes.
Don’t ask a question about sex
to a tough body builder
Ask this question to an impotent.
Don’t ever solicit an inert
to stay by when you are blue.
Rather appeal someone
whenever needed to stay with you
Who can fly, has wings to go.

[Translated by the poet]

Camel Hump

Dervish always keeps
his back covered
Never opens out
Finally, I asked him-
What do you have,
what do you have in there?
footsteps of my absolute
Marked in my sleep.
The fakir says, there is a
camel in my back.
This is that camel never born
Never has been
Undoubtedly it will never be.

[Translated by the poet]
Badruzzaman Alamgir is a poet, translator and playwright.
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