Stone
by Ali Karim (1931-1969 )

Half-naked,
Primitive man
Cast a stone at his foe,
Shed blood.
But the stone
Didn't fall to the ground,
It kept flying,
From horizon to horizon.
Don't say that the stone disappeared.
That stone transformed into an arrow,
And then a sword,
A bullet,
A missile.
It did not stop as we thought.
It transformed into an atom.
Piercing the summit
And wishes
And the ocean,
It sped away...
Nor has that very stone
Stopped even now,
It still shoots through the air, but where?
It becomes neutron,
Electron-
A lot of this, a lot of that.
Transforming into fire.
Death.
Poison.
You, my contemporary,
You, brother of Truth,
Tell me, can't that stone be stopped,
That the half-naked,
Half-savage,
Primitive man
Cast so long ago?

Translated by Aynur Hajiyeva.

Back to - Ali Karim Index

Home | About Azeri | Learn Azeri | Arabic Script | Contact us
© Azerbaijan International. Copyright 2004. All rights reserved.