Noshi Gilani (14 March 1964 / Bahawalpur, Punjab / Pakistan)

Kept on compromising on life
kept reciting poetry, kept blazing

I burned down with the lamps
Your arrival was only a dream

I cannot explain how much I remember
Of you in this monsoon

City people! Did the breeze convey
Our village of flower, scent and lantern?

You befriended the firefly
We kept searching for stars

Those who could not know union
kept writing the story of separation

[Translated by Nukhbah Langah and Lavinia Greenlaw]