Homage to a publisher

A book may look like a house or a coffin

But a maker of books cannot be contained between ordinary covers.

Between the Muses' minions, stodgy academics,

Smarmy marketing men and discount-hungry retailers

He waves a baton to conduct a chorus

That threatens to collapse any moment into cacophony,

Yet keeps the show going,

Plays on the dialectic of recto and verso, dwells

On the aesthetics of fonts, the sensuous texture of paper

And when a book is carried in from the bindery

Like a new-born baby, his name

Is on the title-page, true,

But to see him in all his glory

We need to look at things in a Platonic light –

Where the air is rich with heavenly scents,

In the Book of Books he stands

                illuminated under "Acknowledgments."

Kaiser Haq, a poet, essayist and translator, is currently professor of English at ULAB.

*Mohiuddin Ahmed, d. 22 June 2021, was founder and Managing Director of University Press Ltd. (UPL).