Cold Before Sleep

Mohammad Foysal Ahmed Akash

It was cold out there, cracking down,

the heart got frozen.

Winds were howling there, with its numbing sounds.

The roads were rumbled more than every other darker night,

Weary steps wriggled best till then, crawled for the heats.

 

They entered the room, put off all the loads,

made fire, melted the heart.

The bed is warm now, ready to rest.

Ah, heaven!

 

A pensive mood getting at me, as before,

peeks of the colder days are clotting here,

drowning me in those times.

Creepier thoughts rested all day long,

got me again.

I can’t be calm now.

 

Songs of mists turning and tuning inside,

humming of all the tolls,

growling chants of the losses

recalling how much I’ve groaned.

 

It seems all the labors of the days

are now in the coldest ashtray,

The roads treaded down

drained into the foulest misgivings.

 

But I’m tired.

Can’t take more loads in this battered heart.

I can’t hurt my mind anymore.

I yield, let me rest a while.

 

Ah, sleep is getting me now.

How beautiful it is! Ah!

This time I’ll be free,

I’ll be free from all the sleets of the roads,

from all the cracks of the heart.

I’ll rest in the warmer orchard.