A Poem of Avtaar Singh Pash

Original in Punjabi

I seek farewell
My beloved, I seek farewell
I had wanted to write a poem
Which you could have read till you lived

In that poem, there would have been mention of -
The fragrance of corriander
The rustle of sugarcane
also, of the dew seeping from the trees
and the froth of milk in the bucket
And everyhting else-
That I saw in your body, would have found a mention

In that poem-
The stiffness of my hands had to smile
The fish plates of my thighs had to swim
And the soft shawl of my chest hair
would have reeked of love
In that poem for you
for me
and for life's every relation
There would have been a lot

But it is too tasteless-
to struggle with the contours of thw world map
And even If I wrote that poem, full of good omen
It would have died,
Leaving me and you wailing over its chest

My love, the poem has become very immaterial
As the weapons continue growing their nails
And before every poem
It has become necessary
to fight with these weapons

In a war
Everything is easily understood
as easily as the enemy's and one's own name
and in this situation -
Comparing the roundness of my lips, ready to kiss
With the roundness of Earth
Or comapring the bend in your back
to the breath of Ocean
would have felt like like a joke
And that is why I did not...

I could not make it possible - keeping in one line
Your desire to feed my child in our courtyard
and the totality of war

And now i seek farewell
and now I seek farewell

(And now the last stanza)...

You will have to forhet everyhting, my love
Except this, that I had an unsatiating desire to live
That I wanted to drown, till my neck, in life
You live my part of life as well, my love
You live my part of life as well

Submitted by Rahul Pandita in the final form.
No editing attempted.