Poetry

By

Abu Sufian

“We Want Justice”

The long overdue justice

Not being delivered yet,

Thousands upon thousands being killed,

Run over and left dead in cold blood,

By the speeding vehicles all over the country,

All the time

Before and after the independence

Of our great nation—

The People’s Republic of Bangladesh.

Now the time is running out,

The laws were postponed for decades,

The overdue verdicts stuck in limbo;

And the conscious minors could not tolerate,

They plunged into the roads,

Clogged the traffic

Numbed the city with a roar

Defying rain and scorching temperature.

Now that the patriotic students with uniforms,

Seeking radical reforms

In laws and in roads, and in transports

To bring about a change

To save lives in roads

From reckless drivers and illegal vehicles,

Now they chant with pride,

With the flag holding so tight,

Uttering with thousands of loud voices,

“We Want Justice”.

Now he wants justice,

She wants justice,

They want justice,

We want justice;

For everyone in the roads,

And for those being sent to graves.

Note: The poem is based on the students’ protest in Bangladesh, sparked by the deaths of two students who were killed by a speeding bus in Dhaka on July 29, 2018. The incident triggered mass protests by students who have taken to the streets of Bangladesh’s capital to demand that authorities improve road safety.

Abu Sufian

Abu Sufian – who is also known as The Silent Poet – is a poet and writer. His poems have been published in literary journals including Scarlet Leaf Review, Criterion, Literary Voyage, The Literary Herald, Tuck Magazine and Clairvoyance. Sufian also contributed in four international poetry anthologies: Voice of Monarch Butterflies (2016), Apple Fruits of an Old Oak (2016), Where Are You From? (2017) and Dandelion in a Vase of Roses (2017).