Peace... (Translation) Poem by Usman Hanif

'O folks! '
the authorities state,
'Even if the sun showers the rain of fire
upon the afflicted eden
Even if the winds scorn
the colors that are faded
Even if the sprouting spring
turns back to the heavens
the winds trip the brasiers
Even if the seas spit the blood into the breeze
wherever the love is found, 'tis dead and serene
mutiny supercedes the love, the flourishing love
Even if the nationalists are encaged
Even if the subliminal sacrifices the law
Even if the world becomes self destructive
Even if the waves of them
burn down the eyes of the culture
Even if the maternal hands
crave the nursing of the open-eyed cospses
Even if the hunger hovers upon the children
the age perishes the suffering of the weak
the youth erupts in the streets of sense
the mementos built by the lifeless corpses
the death warns the life evry moment
Even if the gunpowder stinks the valley
Even if the town craves the peace
Even if the blood gushes down the streets...'

The authorities imperil the gods of literature:
'If the peace is to be sustained
it has to be written peace
it has to be declared peace...'