“you let go beauty/ long ago/ well before the first scratch// the second bruise/ the third open wound/ fading into a flush of rust…” By Abeer Hoque.
“In the benighted landscape of palace ruins,/the blind poplars, in an abortive, elliptical row,/put their foreheads to the moon…” By Raza Ali Hasan
“Benevolent words abound in accounts of Hay Festival Dhaka – beauty, interaction, generosity… yet the festival also witnessed to great effect a less congenial aspect of poetic spirit, namely poets’ love of a good scrap!”
Eurig Salisbury reports from the Hay Festival in Dhaka.
“I have come to admire/ the resilience of this tiger land…” By Mir Mahfuz Ali
“Bangladesh, I’m searching for your homeless –/ for where they can set up house in the hearts of mango-people,/ fruits exploding on shy branches…” By Mir Mahfuz Ali
“Just a few grains of rice can be of great lift: a little fire,/ a pot full of water…” By Raza Ali Hasan
“I’m not crazy, you know, even if they’ve sent me to you for an assessment…” By Farah Ghuznavi.