Times have put our loyalty to a tearing test. <br />Let us cut our hands, then. Let us sew our lips. <br /> <br />Events have thrown me among soulless zombies. <br />Their eyes hold no shine; their words are not their own. <br /> <br />O disregarding earth of my homeland, reply! <br />Where have the men for whom I search disappeared? <br /> <br />The candle of poets' gatherings - Lahore - has been extinguished. <br />The field which gave birth to our verses has been razed. <br /> <br />Trees with wholesome fruit have been uprooted. <br />Walls of soothing shades have been fallen. <br /> <br /> <br />Closed shops, abandoned ways, unlit. <br /> <br />Forbidden and forbidding nights… <br />No one ventures out. <br /> <br />Since evening, guards stroll through the lanes. <br /> <br />Candles are but few. <br />Lights are dimmed. <br /> <br />O Light of heart and vision, when will you reach us? <br />The world is going dark with your remoteness. <br /> <br />In short, I had to lift the bans from my pocket. <br />I was cautious though in the beginning of my sorrow. <br /> <br />In witless desperation throw your head upon a rock. <br />A fairy might spring up from its heart!! <br /> <br />The idleness of leisure is not an hour for wastage. <br />Let the pen sketch the features of your thought. <br /> <br />Nasir, there are many wishes restless in my heart, <br />But how can I obtain that heedless life?<br /><br />Nasir Kazmi<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/loss-63/
