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Conversation in a Solitary Cell by Shamsur Rahman Faruqi *handwritten Urdu text by the author, early 1980's* Pierce the sky through Come before me, write on my forehead Scratch yellow lines with your blue pen-- the gleam of peacock feathers green glitter the colour of the tiger's rush golden, or black, or bright the cruel heart-stopping sting of a cold blast curtain of colors see-through breeze or opaque jungle I, black of body
or victim of whiteness in a wilderness of ice Ice or blackness, what is it that destroys me? Be a dream-sleep make me fly-- be light or stone break into me flash through me shatter me-- my fearful God! [tang tanhaa))ii me;N baatchiit] translated by the author and Frances W. Pritchett *"Ek Nazm Se: Meditations on Urdu Modernism"*, by Geeta Patel, Dawn, Nov. 10, 2013. |
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