What I seek is a brushstroke

A brushstroke that captures the nightingale

That captures it in only one line

One line in a language that needs no translation

That trembles warm in your hand

In your mouth

In your mind

The language of beauty

The language of pain

The raw beauty of simplicity

A phrase stripped to the essence

Layer upon translucent layer

stripped bare and sharp as a sword before battle

the battle of love or death

a summary of life in a final breath

a sigh of fulfillment

A life of beauty

A life of pain

Said honestly

The raw beauty of simplicity

Dhaka 2011