Lullaby For Lost Generations

All rivers of taste have dried up Only sands boil in pans Tyranny of migration has struck the towns Birds have forsaken their nests. Judgements descend from heavens So it is said in books, testaments Secrets of hearts are culpable offences It's crime to feed at mother's breast. ''He had gone to buy a feeder Before curfew time; Hasn't come back.'' Kids, go to sleep Stories, written on waters Are narrated by winds to sails Of sinking ships, of men in submarines The oceans in their eyes were dry at parting Yes, the sands of journey Had marked all pores of the body '' Keep Quiet ''. Whole life-spans pass awake from sleep A single frozen moment is difficult to pass. The sun at the roof's height comes and goes Come, give a call to those Who had heard Israfael's bugle And gone to eternal sleep on the battle front. Their children remain awake. (Translated from original Urdu by Dr. Satyapal Anand)