অটোয়া, সোমবার ৪ নভেম্বর, ২০২৪
Poems by Rashed Nabi

A Timeless Nap

I'll not make up for lost time
Nor will I run after it.
If it lacks manners to wait for others,
Then be that what it may.
I'll let time run away like a thief
I'm turning back on it.
When it goes out of sight
I'll take a timeless nap.

Eucalyptus Road

Mindless passersby silenced
Our footsteps on Eucalyptus Road.
The old devil moon that had once 
Walked along with us,
Threw away our shadows into darkness.

The whistles of the wind
That had been soft and sad
Took over the melodies of our cacophony.
Do you still feel the salty taste of the heat
That dampened the dead summer nights?
Then pour more sugar into your tea.

If the fireflies still blink on your window
In the midnight hour 
Tell them to drift back to Eucalyptus Road.
Don’t pretend you hear the lost footsteps
They now belong to no one!
The leaves that fell on Eucalyptus Road
May fly again in the sky, but
They will touch your face never again.

My Shadow

I wish my shadow had a bit of common sense—
When I wanted him to trail behind me,
He walked ahead of me without wit.
When I was sitting down, wanting some quiet
He whizzed around me all along.
When I asked him to lend me a hand 
He shamelessly vanished into the thin air.
On Sunday I saw him again among my enemies
On Monday he came back as a lazy fox
On other days he was just as heartless as a shadow.
Maybe I should buy him a little bit of heart
When the heart grows into him
And he grows senses on it
I could turn my back on him.

Rashed Nabi
Ottawa, Canada