A Dead Tongue
My tongue is standing by the road
Under a sign that proffers speed limit
Two buses are coming down, racing
Over a line that runs parallel
The driver, is he my age
I wonder
The other, surely he is too
They are coming
Like stuntmen
In action movies
Wood against wood
Sparks of fire
Is there steel too
Ah civilization
Ah development
You see the disparity
One man riding a car with a cat in his bonnet
Hundreds huddle like a kitty in a bag with no bonnet
My father runs one of these machines
How does he do that
How can you risk your life
And put behind a wheel like that
It's as mad as Wright brothers
Getting on a bicycle with wings
Is the bus flying
Is it my father behind the wheels
I will tell him not to ride those things
Things that kill
Who is the thing behind these things
The thing that feels nothing
Yet inflict pain and suffering
Does the bus run on testosterone
Does the bus run on adrenaline
Does the bus run on greed
Does the bus run on need
Why is this bus coming so fast
Is my father in it
Is he coming to get me
In a flash I see my world
That I have lived
My mother promised
She'd cook khichuri
With aubergine
I can smell her sweat
The love and the turmeric
Is there a hint of butter
The fuming khichuri
I didn't have my tiffin today
Had to copy class notes
From a friend
The teacher is so boring
I didn't hear a thing
Tomorrow I will sit in the front row
My dad said if I study hard
And get the results I deserve
He'd put an ad in newspaper
The first in family to go to uni
Why are the buses not slowing down
Can't they see it is the stop
STOP!
My tongue died yesterday!
And the thing lived on!
Shamsad Mortuza is Professor of English (on leave), University of Dhaka. Currently he is the Head of the Department of English and Humanities at ULAB
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