Cut into two
like a cake and
blown away so swiftly
as candles blown.
my thoughts though wept
water of wisdom
as she went
but for my heart
cut like a cake.
by Irshad Salim, circa 1972 (at the age of 16).
–from Sometime Somewhere (1977)
Why I wrote this poem?
Irshad Salim: It’s one of the series of poetic expressions I wrote on the separation of East Pakistan and creation of Bangladesh after December 1971.
