Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW
Vol. 5 Num 586 Sat. January 21, 2006  
   
Literature


Elegy For My Sari
Nuzhat A. Mannan

My aanchal grows
Edgy all on a sudden
The border quivers, flares up but
It's too much to deal with...
To choose between warnings and wardrobe
So defiance defers, coils back tremulously
Hiding crestfallen between anxious pleats:
One fold taut with
The gall of it all
One fold crumpled hopelessly...
My aanchal fidgets
In one last desperate flutter
A gregarious gesture
Before it grows immobile
Grim. Like a shroud.

Nuzhat A. Mannan teaches English at Dhaka University.