Early in the morning
When “Me vs. Me”was called out
The defendant was present
But the trial was put on the list of pending cases
And sight was hung on the door of justice
So now the plaintiff, with his delaying tactics, is satisfied
That he is beginning to commit to memory all the words of the affidavit
Wearing a lawyer’s glasses, he studies history
And sweetens his memory
Call upon call
Date upon date
The long list of cases
The eyes are used to reading over and over
And the work load just keeps increasing
Because the defendant has a lot of time on his hands
To repeat and memorize the silence
Submitted in the answer to the plaint
Head hung low – an additional quality on his part
Who knows when “Me vs. Me” might be called up
But we do know, those of us who went through the history of mediation,
That if time had done justice, the night would have long passed
The tree is barehanded
Neither leaf, nor bud
No bird, no noise of the flower
Only wilderness remains.
Where there was water, there is desert
Just a dance of wilderness
Nudity of my horror
Disbelief of the burnt vista
Looks me in the eye
Where what once was becomes grief
And clutches me in a fist
A poem burst from here
That filled my lap
The wind beat the leaves
Fanning the body’s flame
But now there’s nothing like that
But now there’s nothing like that
The tree, which was my song
The tree, which was my poem
That you didn’t understand
O my senseless people
This is still my song
This is still my poem
(Which you didn’t understand)
This poem will understand you
This poem will understand me
A poem by Zahid Nabi translated into English by Xari Jalil