Dilbar Haidarova
An Anti war poem
I am Replacing the Threadbare Fabric of my Banner
Dedicated to Dilbar Haidarova, A well known poet and translator from Uzbekistan
The last dove took off
From my tree
And I was left alone
On the hedge of showering bullets
I’m at the warfront
And stuffing my empty pillowcase
With the down of sleepless nights
I require mere two yards of land in Baramulla
For me to rest in peace!
O woman!
You’re cooking rotis over dried dung cake’s fire
I thank you that in this storm
You managed to cook food for me
O you far-off figure!
Dispersing the scent of amber
Only if my post office weren’t on its deathbed
I’d have sent you a letter immersed in love
Now I will inscribe the text of your allure
Upon my body’s insatiated parts
O you rising in the east of my poem figure!
I keep myself warm with your incandescent bosom
In the freezing nights of Zamistan!
In my streets
A body full of explosives prowls
The all-encompassing fear
Prevents me from dreaming about you
My gilded day
Lies drying upon the shabby clothesline in Baghdad!
I’m replacing
The tattered cloth of my banner
I need only a span of land
In Mirali
Where I may plant a seed of peace
For my children!
I am
In the clutches of death
And
Understand what this life is worth
There’s no bullet
In my gun
Aimed for a dove!
Translated by: Sara Ali Khan
Poem by Dr. Jawaz Jaffri
so poignant wise.🙏