Poem
Mir Mahfuz Ali
A Golden Bowl
A Golden Bowl
A Golden Bowl
What’s this?I’m invited to a great feast?
But here I stand, lost
in the yard,
amongst officials
in tail-coats,
luring me to a boat
moored on the shore.
They are the ones appointed
to lead me to the treat.
How have I, of all men,
women and sick children,
deserved a lavish dinner?
The whole country is in turmoil.
Houses are on fire.
Blood in the rivers.
Roads are deserted.
Shops are closed.
Weeping at every doorstep.
And I have been chosen
to represent this people,
to put their case at the banquet.
The women came to me
with clay pots.
How can I stand before them
with a golden bowl
that’s totally empty,
shaking in my hands
while shame and dark regrets
rise up in my soul.
What am I to do now?
How can I ferry them over
to the feast?
© 2007, Mir Mahfuz Ali
Mir Mahfuz Ali
(Bangladesh, 1958)
Mir Mahfuz Ali was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 1958. He studied at Essex University and the City Literary Institute in London. He dances, acts and has worked as a male model and a tandoori chef. As a performer, he is renowned for his extraordinary voice – a rich, throaty whisper brought about by a Bangladeshi policeman trying to silence the singing of anthems during a public anti-war demonstra...
Poems
Poems of Mir Mahfuz Ali
Close
A Golden Bowl
What’s this?I’m invited to a great feast?
But here I stand, lost
in the yard,
amongst officials
in tail-coats,
luring me to a boat
moored on the shore.
They are the ones appointed
to lead me to the treat.
How have I, of all men,
women and sick children,
deserved a lavish dinner?
The whole country is in turmoil.
Houses are on fire.
Blood in the rivers.
Roads are deserted.
Shops are closed.
Weeping at every doorstep.
And I have been chosen
to represent this people,
to put their case at the banquet.
The women came to me
with clay pots.
How can I stand before them
with a golden bowl
that’s totally empty,
shaking in my hands
while shame and dark regrets
rise up in my soul.
What am I to do now?
How can I ferry them over
to the feast?
A Golden Bowl
Sponsors
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère