M. Shahid Alam is professor of economics at Northeastern University, Boston. His poetry and translations of Ghalib have appeared (or will appear) in TriQuarterly Online, Southern Review, Prairie Schooner, Chicago Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, Sufi, Marlboro Review, Critical Muslim, Paintbrush, West Coast Review, etc.
Winter 2013
Two Versions of a Ghazal from Ghalib
I
You say I cannot have it if you find my heart.
It was once mine: now I know who has it.