1
Prison light
Insults, torture, indigence
Are locking one’s throat
So whatever you eat
Doesn’t go through
Here the light of government does not go out
Here the light of fate goes out
The light is imprisoned here
There is no peace day or night
Light is the prisoner of darkness
And inmates die
like a moth attracted to light
There are news from home
Government cut the power
There is light in here, darkness at home
the country has become a prison
If I get free one day
I have to take light back
In return for the food parcels
Coming from home
The country is in darkness
You end up in prison
if you follow lead of light
so we have to follow the other side
where dogs bark
Because there is a tragedy
where light comes from
2
HOW COULD THEY KNOW…
“The closest star to Earth is the Sun.”
But how could astronomers know?—
That for me, the closest star
Is my beloved — she is the star on the balcony.
“The longest era was the Stone Age.”
But how could historians know?—
That for me, the longest era
Is the time I waited for you.
“The hardest thing is to know oneself.”
But how could philosophers know?—
That for me, the hardest thing
Is to lose you.
“1 + 1 = 2.”
But how could mathematicians know?—
That you and I are one soul.
…Ah,
What hopes I place in people,
What dreams I expect from them—
Even the scholars cannot understand me,
Let alone the fools.
Bahtiyar Hidayet Azerbaijan
