Murad Kohnegala (Murad Mahmudov) - was born in 1959, He graduated from the Maxim Gorky Literature Institute in 1990. He is the author of the prose and poetry books “Apple Story”(2002), “Cloud Cobbler”(2004), “The Tribe of the Monkey”(2014), “My dreams”(2015). He founded the first independent avant-garde literary organization in Azerbaijan - the Hearth of Azerbaijani Writers. His works have been translated into the Russian, Ukrainian, Georgian, Uzbek, Turkish, Swedish and Germany languages. Since 1990 his publicistic arti- cles have been published in the Azerbaijani press. Lives in Baku.

AFTER EIGHT YEARS

The man was released from prison After eight years’ imprisonment... The Mulberry tree in his yard Recognized him

Before ha had entered through the gate... The rusty knob
Of the wooden gate recognized him...
The clothesline wire recognized him

A child had grown on clothesline wire

Water was dripping both from the clothes And from the coarse cheeks of the man... He coughed covering his mouth with his fist And he was erupting smoke.