by Mozid Mahmud
Mahfuza, your body is my rosary
I observe you and my prayer is done
In any prayer other than yours
My body is not cowed in such attention
I am exhausted in your fire
So that you can be happy
At your closeness arises vigorous God
Then being a shield you check His slanting rays
By getting your touch my pangs come down by seventy times
I every day practice the exact spelling of your name
Somewhere Tasdid Zazam seems to be read
Man listens to my overflowed recitations
With your name is sacrificed my offspring
Keeping head in immolation frame modern-Ismail will not tremble
Mahfuza your body is my rosary
I observe you and my prayer is done.
Mozid Mahmud is a poet, novelist, and essayist based in Bangladesh. Some his notable works include In Praise of Mahfuza (1989), Nazrul – Spokesman of the Third World (1996), and Rabindranath’s Travelogues (2010). His novel Memorial Club is forthcoming from Gaudy Boy LLC in late 2024.