Seventh Sense
By Mukhtar Shakhanov
To get physically
but not spiritually close,
is the ultimate sadness.
That’s why
there are so many
lonely people in the world –
the wingless tedium
of a single-sided coin.
For them no
one-off flights,
or holidays out of the blue.
Totally deprived
of a happy fate
they smile to your face,
bitterly weeping in secret.
And at any crossroads
of life’s path
you are always met
with the inexorable question –
Has your spouse become
a sensitive friend to your soul,
a friend of
your innermost desires,
one who feels
your happiness and torment
with a seventh sense?
If not,
then all your striving
will be like trying to light a fire
on a windy day.
Mukhtar Shakhanov (b. 1942) is a renowned Kazakh poet and public figure. He has published nearly twenty books, including poetry, prose, and plays, and his works have been translated into about sixty languages
