The Focus of the Moon
As the moon rises in the morning sky,
Why does my courtyard not fill with light?
As the deep darkness casts its shadow over the moonlit glow,
Why does my sky still remain without light?
At the twilight of life,
How many faces appear before my eyes,
Floating through the pages of memory—
By the shore of the sea,
Where water glimmers beneath the moonlight,
Upon the breast of distant, unknown mountains.
What is that line of shadow
That reaches into the faraway?
What is that path
That brings two distant journeys together?
Ah, the moon has risen upon the moonlit water—
And perhaps the stream of life awakens once again.
Across the courtyard, the shimmering light
Spills and scatters like a sparkling cascade;
And once again, across that vast sky,
A thousand stars shine, washed in silver moonlight.
The dawn breaks through the darkness
And draws a new path across the sky.
From life to life,
The stream of life flows on and on.
Perhaps that is why
The sky becomes so lost within itself,
Drunk with its own radiance.
Perhaps that is why…
Chapainawabganj, Bangladesh
11 August 2026.
Md. Mahbubul Alam is from Bangladesh. His writer name is Mahbub John in Bangladesh. He is a Senior Teacher (English) of Harimohan Government High School, Chapainawabganj, Bangladesh. Chapainawabganj is a district town of Bangladesh. He is an MA in English Literature from Rajshahi College under National University. He has published three books of poems in Bangla. He writes mainly poems but other branches of literature such as prose, article, essay etc. also have been published in national and local newspapers, magazines, little magazines. He has achieved three times the Best Teacher Certificate and Crest in National Education Week in the District Wise Competition in Chapainawabganj District. He has gained many literary awards from home and abroad. His English writings have been published in Synchronized Chaos for seven years.
Once when he was in grade ten in 1990, his Bangla letter was selected as the best one from Deutsche Welle, Germany Radio that broadcast Bangla news for the Banglalee people. And he was given 50 Dutch Mark as his award. They would ask letters from the listeners to the news in Bangla and select one letter for the best one in every month.
From 17 to 30 September, in 2018 he received a higher training in teaching English language in Kasetsart University of Thailand for secondary level students through a government order from education ministry.
On 06 November 2015 he achieved Amjad Ali Mondal Medal for his contribution in education field by a development organization in the conference and felicitation function for the honorable personalities at Rajshahi College Auditorium.
On 30 December 2017 from West Bengal in India he was declared a ‘Literary Charioteer’ in Bangobandhu Literary and World Bango Conference and they awarded him with a Gold Medal in their International Literary Conference and Prize Giving Ceremony.
In 2018, he achieved Prodipto Lirerary Award in Prodipto Literary Conference at Kesorhat, Rajshahi for poems in Bangla literature. He received honorary crest from the administration of Chapainawabganj District Literary Conference and Cultural Function in 2021 and 2022 consecutively.
His poems have been published in many international online magazines such as Juntos Por las L Raven Cage Zine, and Area Felix. His poems have been translated and published in Argentine and Serbian, and he participated in many international online cultural meetings.