Poetry
The howling pack of dogs
This poem has been translated by the author from Zahir Raihan’s ‘Kotogulo Kukurer Artonad’ on account of the novelist, writer and filmmaker’s birth anniversary
The dogs started screaming together.
White dog.
Black dog.
Girl dog.
Male dog.
All the gentlemen of the city woke-up, hearing them scream. They became very annoyed. They became angry. And to shoot the dogs, they went out on the street carrying guns in their hand.
Coming out the gentlemen saw that there were dogs and dogs everywhere.
Dogs on the porch.
Dogs in the cornice.
Dogs in the hotel.
Dogs in the restaurant.
School, kindergarten, office and courts, there were dogs everywhere. Everyone shrieked their throats out. The united cacophony occupied all around.
Suddenly the gentlemen started shooting.
All the harlots of the city ran into the roads hearing the sound of guns. Small harlot.
Big harlot.
Young harlot.
Old harlot.
Ugly harlot.
Beautiful harlot.
They started crying pitifully, for the dead dogs.
The weeping of the prostitutes cast a shadow of grief amidst the entire city.
And seeing them weep, the gentlemen with disgust, threw their guns far away.
And started screaming like dogs.
KM Arefin is a faculty member at Southeast University and a researcher of postcolonial Bengali literature. Reach him at khanmohammadarefin@gmail.com.