Lost Friend Yousuf Poem by BAL KRISHAN PANDITA

He was a dear friend
And a worthy classmate
And by all measures
A noble laureate
We drank from the same earthen pot
Until a storm came
To throw us apart
It pushed me out of the vale
To a desert where I could hardly inhale
There in the vale
Someone whispered him a tale
That he threw his pen
And took up a sword
That cleaved the neighbor's heart
And broke the earthen pot
Till a bullet on its way
In spring ended his day
May Allah have mercy
And lead us all
From darkness to the dawn.