Once upon a time, I was a poet
And a poet is always a powerless king.
But a merchant can kill,
Perhaps the victim is his wedded wife.
A poet is a king,
He becomes drunk in self-effacement.
It was at a time such as this
That I spent about two decades
In the land ruled by Hasina and
Khaleda.
"You will never find such a country."
The next line of the song could be
The champion of corruption every year,
O land of my birth.
Goodbye, my poetry.
Poetry also bids me goodbye.
But I can remember
Once upon a time I was a poet.
During a breathtaking moonlit night in the Sundarbans,
Walking along a tiger trail,
I thought that the tiger was a powerful image.
But the alligator in a river in the
Sundarbans,
Is he any less powerful?
Only creatures like the deer appear to
be women. So what?
We have hunters and cameramen with
their viewfinders.
But, once upon a time I was a poet;
Once upon a time
I was a tiger in the forest.
Now, I live in the city zoo,
I wander from circus to circus.
I survive by performing tricks.
You enjoy seeing my performance
Because you have tickets,
Tickets you have bought with hard cash.

2002

Tokon Thaakoor, who was born in the district of Jhenaidah, started writing in the nineties. He studied at the Fine Arts Institute, University of Dhaka. His poetry collections include Antarnagar Train O Anyanya Sound (1997), Durshomporker Megh (1999), Ayur Singhason (2000), Kavita Kutirshilpa (2001), Jhan Jhan Jhin Jhin (2003), Nurse, Aami Ghumoini (2008). His anthology Ekdin Kabi Chhilam is in the press.