Azam Abidov, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Azam Abidov

Tashkent, Uzbekistan

AZAM ABIDOV (Aazam Abidov, A’zam Obid), poet, translator, short short story writer, cultural adviser, was born on November 8, 1974 in Namangan, city of flowers, Uzbekistan. He trained in philology. He has several books of poetry and translation to his credit, including Tunes of Asia (English translation of contemporary Uzbek poetry), The Island of Anxiety (poems in Uzbek, English and Spanish), Dream of Lightsome Dawns, A Miracle Is On the Way and I Leave You in Complete Boredom. He also translated some ghazals and epic poem (‘Farhod and Shirin’) by Alisher Navoi, father of Uzbek poetry, into English. Azam also translated novels and short stories by famous Uzbek writers such as Erkin A’zam, Evril Turon and Salomat Vafo into English. Azam’s poems have been translated into more than 20 languages and published worldwide. He was a Creative Writing Fellow at the University of Iowa in the U.S. (2004) and a writer-in-residence at LCB in Berlin (2017). He attended poetry festivals, creative writing workshops and cultural events in over 20 countries. In collaboration with Uzbek poet Bahrom Ruzimuhammad, Azam compiled two international poetry anthologies, Fish and Snake and The Language of the Birds, involving hundreds of contemporary poets from around the world. He is also a World Poetry Movement’s coordinator of poetry events in Uzbekistan, and one of the founders of Maysara literary and cultural club at the Yudakov and Oybek House-Museums in Tashkent. In 2018, Azam launched the first-ever Writer/Artist Residency Program in Uzbekistan for foreign authors and artists (http://azamabidov.uz/?cat=29). Azam lives in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

I wish I were gigantic

(I dedicate this poem to all innocent people killed and living in conflict zones, including in Nagorno-Karabakh.)

I wish I were gigantic, Those who launch a war Don’t tell me you are leading, You laugh, You watch, Ignore, You keep my soul bleeding. I wish I were gigantic, As big as Planet Earth, I ain’t romantic, I’m antique,

I’ve not sense of self-worth. I let you call me villain And stop my heavy breath. So choke me! Then I fill in With my body Planet Death! I wish I were gigantic, Comes after me Full Bliss, I leave the world sans panic, Sympathetic and in Peace! I wish I were gigantic!

Oh, my blossoming soul

My strength is enough to shed tears from my eyes, I tie up chains to my hands, I always drink love And eat love-pricks with great pleasure.

To our life that is mournful and brilliant Phoenix comes asking refuge We fly and to our wings The sky comes near and near.

I don’t care of my body, Oh, my blossoming soul is the capital of my spirit. In the slum which is unseen and full of love A pregnant Happiness bears a child.

There is a bird

I was told, that I’m a bird, All the seasons fit me. To know myself never I could, To fly around wings to be.

However, do not sing for me, So much of eulogy, don’t arrange. There’s such a bird, you set it free, But it flies back to the cage.

Please never say I’m like that bird!

Gabriel, touch me gently…

(Ghazal)

Gabriel, touch me gently with your wings, Oh, my gracious - from the backstage - woe stings.

Graves are either gardens of endless delight Or deep holes of the hell, where Evil flings.

I want to be a spot in hairs of the camel, Like a leaf my life in windy weather swings.

The task of time is killing of all lavish gifts, It never comes anew – life’s chimes – it never rings.

Among the dead, be the most attractive, Aazam, As Solomon is the best of all earthy kings!

I am clay

I am clay –Liquid and weak. I have neither tongue Nor mouth, to speak. Everyone likes To make some figure From me, To make a shape. I am clay –Liquid and weak. I always go Through palms. I leak… I leak…

Too long

We strive to go to rich countries send our husbands and wives they do hard work or sell themselves The other people in this country have luxurious weddings from the sent money and sing a song of happiness We all work for the government The tongue of the government is too long.

A bat and a man

A bat could smile, Bear a child and breastfeed and also menstruate. The bat really wanted to laugh and weep like a human being. So the bat summoned a man In a market fair For a feast And have an affair. The bat treated the man With a piece of her flesh. And now The bat knows how to laugh and weep. Her laughing sounds Like a mourning Her weeping sounds Like a laughter And is heard and spread All over the world. The cursed friendship Sparkles in the sun.

Farewell to earth

Where is your forehead, Mother Earth? My Facebook friend From Vietnam Is taking me to his Space Station He has built in his blissful childhood. With the same creation, The same flesh And even the same God We are not working enough To promote The Exchange of Love: My tears cannot extinguish Big fires in Australia, I cannot keep breathing anymore Because of dying humans, Animals and birds all over. My friend told me I will be the first poet In his station, So I can take some fellows to join From elsewhere, Including from Iraq, North Korea, Iran and U.S. To foster our poorest exchange And be able to cast The Shadow of Peace Over you –Mother Earth. You deserved all Wonderful things Existence could offer! But I don’t deserve you. So where is your forehead? I want to kiss and thank you, And say good-bye.