Cover art: Detail from Bangladeshi rickshaw art.
The Color of Courage
Surely, it’s madness
it’s insanity—that he walked on.
That he stood alone, facing
hundreds of polices with their rifles
pointing at him.
And
he shouted.
And
he showed—what courage looks like.
What youth is made of.
Right then, there, the shot was fired.
Valor lay still on the dusty street, dripping
blood, colouring the earth
with the color of courage—RED.
RED
- The color that screams like police vans, the rifles, pointed at people, point-black.
- The blood stains on the clothes after the bricks are thrown, after the shots are fired.
- After the bodies are dragged down the roads, leaving marks.
- How the protestors with posters and banners look like in daylight!
- How the streets filled with graffiti look like in moonlight!
- The color of Facebook screens on a particular day for a particular cause.
- The color of rebellion, hundreds of thousands of closed fists, shouting reform.
- The color of sky, just after dusk, heralding a new beginning, a new era.
- The procession, carrying flags, celebrating victory.
- The color of freedom.
Prayers of a Mother for the Sons and Daughters on the Street
A sizzling Sunday morning, a mother
stands in the middle of the footpath, all
around her are students, shouting
atop of their voices, demanding reform
justice—where is justice?
Lady Justice is blindfolded, carrying
wishes of those in power who—
are blind—deaf too—they
see nothing—hear nothing.
The mother stands in the middle of the road, under
a crimson-coloured sky, all around
are her sons and daughters, bold and brave,
raging from street to street.
Her eyes are wet with tears. Her
heart swells with pride.
She sees courage— hope—a new beginning. The
dark night will be over soon—the sun will rise. She
heads home—she has prayers to make.
The Song of Freedom
the bloodied scarf of my sister’s shoulder lies
on the dusty footpath, the bullet hole
in my brother’s chest unfolds like a pandoras box
like a new sun heralding a new era. The
slogans are echoed from street to street, from campus
to campus, from Teknaf to Tetulia. Hundreds
of thousands of brothers and sisters march ahead, shouting
the names of their dead brothers and sisters. The
wind, breeze, trees, leaves, birds, sons, daughters, mothers,
fathers shouting along, the song of freedom.
Marzia Rahman is a fiction writer and translator. Author of two books, Dot and Other Flashes and The Aftermath, her flashes and translations have been widely published in both print and online journals and anthologies. Two of her novellas-in-flashes Life on the Edges and If Dreams had wings and Houses were built on clouds were longlisted in the Bath Novella-in-Flash Award Competition in 2018 and 2022. She has received a nomination for Best Microfiction 2023. Her translated work The Aftermath has won her Panjeree-BTF Translation Award in 2023. She has recently co-edited an International flash fiction anthology Flashlights.
