Munir Momin

These are my English translations of poems by Munir Momin.

Mar 23, 2025

Munir Momin | Karachi Literature Festival

Munir Momin (1966-) writes poems in Balochi, a Northwestern Iranian language spoken primarily in the Balochistan region of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. Monir Mómen (also spelled Munir Momen and Muneer Momin) was born in 1966 in the village of Pidrak, located in the Kech District of Balochistan, Pakistan.

Night and Day
by Munir Momin
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Night after night
the world screams
invective against
my solitude,
then sneaks out
the cracked backdoor window
but doesn’t make it far
beyond the city’s confines;
then in the morning,
acting as if nothing untoward happened,
it greets me,
having forgotten all about its rants
and my loneliness,
then accompanies me
like a friend
through the front door.

The Beloved City
by Munir Momin
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

Don’t bemoan the silence
because you’re still a newbie here:
your bright colors remain foreign to the surrounding trees.
No one will converse with you, yet.
But once the city’s poisons
seep into your veins to mingle with your blood,
relationships will blossom;
only then will the city converse with you.

Untitled

Only for an evening
let my heart
soar momentarily
with the starlings of silence
fleeing the seasons and the solitudes of your eyes.
—Munir Momin, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Day by day,
Time slips through my fingers
like elusive millet grains.
But were you a bird,
you'd be my most welcome guest!
—Munir Momin, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

They sail ahead at the same speed
yet the moon reaches the beach
long before the boats.
—Munir Momin, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch