Monon Mukur Selected Poem - Ahmed Muntasir Onon

 

Monon Mukur Selected Poem 

Erroneous Indulgence

Ahmed Muntasir Onon

How far can you really go

while carrying the emptiness within you?

How much of the heavy, cloud-laden sky

can you truly touch?

How deeply can you recognize

this ever-flowing time?

Or even—how much of yourself

do you really understand?

And yet, you were solemnly warned

not to take that path of subtle mistakes.

You were shown, you were told —

how cursed, how dreadful,

how steeped in ruin that path was...

But who could ever hold you back?

Now, instead, you —

touch the clouds… bathe in sunlight,

and keep walking, embracing your emptiness.

One day, all these restless, unsettled states will change.

And if mistakes come charging back then,

seeking shelter at your feet—

you will not indulge them.

With a fierce, unwavering gaze,

you will show them only a grey indifference

and win yourself back, at last.

Until that day comes —

perhaps go on living like this,

drenched in sorrow,

like a lone sorrow-tree standing tall.

© Poet

Published in Shobdo Mukur e-magazine Bhadro edition, 1432.