No Road Back Home – A Poem by Abduqadir Jalalidin

Jan 4, 2020

No Road Back Home

By Abduqadir Jalalidin

Translated into English by: Joshua L. Freeman

In this forgotten place I have no lover’s touch
Each night brings darker dreams, I have no amulet
My life is all I ask, I have no other thirst
These silent thoughts torment, I have no way to hope

Who I once was, what I’ve become, I cannot know
Who could I tell my heart’s desires, I cannot say
My love, the temper of the fates I cannot guess
I long to go to you, I have no strength to move

Through cracks and crevices I’ve watched the seasons change
For news of you I’ve looked in vain to buds and flowers
To the marrow of my bones I’ve ached to be with you
What road led here, why do I have no road back home

Editor’s Note: Abduqadir Jalalidin is a renowned Uyghur writer, poet, and academician. He is considered one of the leading Uyghur intellectuals in the 21st century. He was a Professor of Literature at Xinjiang Pedagogical University. The Chinese regime unlawfully detained Abduqadir Jalalidin in 2018 as part of its crackdown on Uyghur intellectuals. There is no news about Professor Jalalidin until today. The poem “No Way Back Road” has reportedly been written by Professor Jalalidin in his detention and has been leaked out in December 2020.