Let’s Go

Rise and let’s go and rest at Friend’s lane.
Revive lost letters of love and strive to see,
If we can be-- old friends Again.
And measure the wounds of our heart,
Count the tall telling trees of yore,
The flowery petals of blood in our heart.

Friend, you know what spells charmed us.
Rise O rise, for you know who killed them.
“Fear no more the heat o’ the sun, [Friend]”
You know who left their bodies shroud-less
“Fear no more the frown of the great, [Come]
Rise and let’s go and rest at Friend’s lane.

Friend, let’s go and see with our eyes,
The bent bodies of our brethren,
Who like flies swarm across the bars,
To seek refuge from the letters,
Exchanged stealthily to each other in joy,
In the feverish cold of Chillai Kalan.

Let’s march against the odds of war,
And heal our wounds.
I shall burrow a hole into my heart,
With the dagger of your love,
A resting place for us, two together,
Thrown ashore by the smoke of shells.

Do you mind if we pretend, that
We are at peace in the dark.
Let’s go then and count the living
Among the dead, lying,
Or the dead among the living,
Under the same old red-leafed chinar.

Friend, “My nerves are bad tonight” but
Don’t forget, I love you much as I love
The Burnt- out end cigarette puffs.

My Friend, the same old red-leafed chinar,
Where our great grandfathers solemnised
Our marriage of misery and bondage.
Come let’s go and celebrate the massacre
Of human heart. Come, don’t be afraid,
“Thou shall be saved”, death too shall die.

(Ashaq Hussain Parray)