Nothing to Declare / Abu Karim

After the longest plane journey abroad

the tourist has reached the airport of his homeland.

Several bags full with souvenirs from different lands;

some are the gifts of love offered to him, some reels of films,

costs of printing the films have forced him to carry the

loads of camera in his luggage. Bearing the landscapes,

sweet memories of festivals of foreign lands, they are

eagerly waiting for the humid climate of Bangladesh

as if to come out blooming.

The tourist halts in front of the green channel

of the airport; he goes on groping

inside his mind

if in  his handbag, in any luggage

there was something prohibited to enter Bangladesh,

or anything to be cleared to the customs.

He has nothing to disclose open except

his uninhibited, warm and blood-circulating heart.

Nothing to declare.

10 February 2003

‘নাথিং টু ডিক্লেয়ার’ কবিতার অনুবাদ

[Translated by Dulal Al Monsur]