Suddenly, One Afternoon

Suddenly, One Afternoon

– Samiul Nirjon

Suddenly, I saw her on one side of the road—

I never thought it would be possible in such troubled times.

I had seen her before, again and again,

Sometimes in a blue burqa, sometimes in black—

Radiant like a sunflower;

Today, she wore a red and yellow linen dress,

A small child in her arms, scarf drawn over her head,

Her delicate face framed like the sunflower once more.

It felt like a deep darkness had gathered around her,

A distance shaded in black,

Stretching to the far end of the school field,

Into the solitude of twilight.

My whole chest throbbed wildly;

I saw a familiar person in an unfamiliar form.

Perhaps she saw me and kept walking—

Toward the house on the other side of the road.

She stayed focused on the child in her arms.

I kept moving forward with my bicycle,

Scattering old memories as I went.

I had to hurry home,

To give my father his medicine.

Perhaps I will never see her again—

And the question that’s remained silent all these years,

I will still wait to hear its answer,

From your own lips.