Tahir Hamut Izgil
Autumn was a jumble of colors
staining our clothes as we walked the road
In the clay-bedded stream beside us
God’s cold water was flowing
In the water swirled leaves with holes
We passed a wide bare enclosure
A red light on the gate was shining like Satan
Qasimjan pointed
—That’s the women’s prison
His friend Rozakhun grinned
—I wouldn’t mind being locked in a cell full of women
The body of the land was in pieces
The roads were stitching them together
Cold air was leading its kin
down from the mountain
A sudden shiver went through me
November 2015, Kashgar
translated from the Uyghur by Joshua L. Freeman