Sajjad Quadir has worked in journalism and television. He was one of the promising new poets of the seventies.

Recognised Border

It’s a time,
a time – you’ll be living outside it.

Windows though remain wide open
you won’t look at a distance
you won’t draw your curtains

not exactly the indifference
not exactly the opportunism
not that you’re throwing yourself within you.

It’s a time
you are to bear everything.

It’s an age
with borders drawn around its sphere
and you’re to stand there

you may dare to do the wrong,
you may know the easy tactics of violation.
Maybe, you’re recklessly driven by your desires
yet you’re to recognise your boundaries.

Going ahead?
If you think it the way you’re to tread
no wall stands before you
no broken bridge
no killer yet you’ll stop stepping ahead.

It’s time
you refrained yourself
from taking the opportunity
of going ahead

A time
you’re to make yourself
bearable to you

A time
you’re to stand alone
beyond the grip of time
and allurement.

– Mohammad Nurul Huda