So go in peace, be free, be kind.
You thought you had escaped, didn't you? / Outran everything that weighed you down
A quiet, seniority in its touch, / A tenderness that feels like it's meant to last
Sometimes at early dawn / You overpower my eyelids / And won’t let me wake up
I love the texture of your hair and I wanted to tell you about it in far too many words than either you or I are comfortable with.
We'll put up feigned politicians / And their fake promises instead
Who do I tell, sir? The walls do not listen, The roads do not answer back
Here are a few things I learned in the one month we haven’t spoken
you don't recognise yourself, / everything is lost like a fish in Lethean space. / you have mistaken truth for love again
Translated by Mohammad Shafiqul Islam
Leave a flower from your bun when you depart, my love.
The July wind brought in the scent of new beginnings
Magic boys and girls of Bangladesh, I love you.
In the blanks of muddy moonlight
A walkway through the crystal-clear lies
Review of 'Shamim Reza: Selected Poems' (ULAB Press, 2023)
Surely, it’s madness / it’s insanity—that he walked on
You've ignited a tempest, / a crimson anger, / A defiance burning brighter than the summer's sun
the way there was complete silence when you lied for the first time. You opened your eyes
