Two poems of Federico García Lorca

Farewell (Despedida)

If I die,

leave the balcony open.

The boy eats oranges.

(From the balcony I see that.)

The harvester reaps the wheat.

(From the balcony I feel that.)

If I die,

leave the balcony open!

(Canciones)

Song of the dry orange tree

(Canción del naranjo seco)

                                To Carmen Morales

Woodsman,

Chop my shadow down.

Save me from the agony

of seeing myself without fruits.

Why was I born among mirrors?

Around me the day rotates.

And the night copies me

in all her stars.

I want to live without seeing myself.

And the ants and the burrs –

I will dream that they are

my leaves and my birds.

Woodsman,

Chop down my shadow.

Save me from the anguish

of seeing myself without fruits.

(Canciones)

Md. Elias Uddin teaches at the Department of  English, Dhaka University.

Two Poems by Md. Mehedi Hasan

Eid Nowadays

Just

a vacation

of three days

so that we can

pollute the cox's bazar

sea beach throwing away

plastic bottles and bags

**

The Interrogation of a Poet

(with due apologies to Kaiser Haq)

A small, dark room

The poet is tied to a chair

An officer in military uniform comes

breaks his nose punching:

You fought a war before, professor

No?

And here you're, again—

old, pathetic

(laughs)

I'll just take things easy,

forget to zip up after a pee,

wear red underwear on Valentine's Day

You like war, professor?

Yes, no

It's like sex

but cannot

give

mutual satisfaction

You've got a macabre sense of humor

(punches again)

What do you want anyway?

YOU RICH, I AM POOR — WHY?

(sneering)

That's why you've come to fight a war

wearing a lungi!

All clothes have equal rights

Stop tickling people

and pinching us,

would you?

From you I will buy nothing

just will miss the tête-à-tête

withms bunny sen of banglarnotor

Filthy poets, of no use

Shoot him

The jouissance of getting through

is as good as an orgasm

Any last wish?

GIVE ME BANANAS OR GIVE ME DEATH!

Md. Mehedi Hasan's writings have been published in The Daily Star, The Daily Observer, The Independent, The Wagon Magazine, Arts & Letters- Dhaka Tribune.