Dreams Come At A Price Poem by Aftab Husain

O Dreamers!
Venture not too far
in search of dreams

Often, when a child leaves home,
chasing butterflies,
he fails to find the path of return

Once, my dreamy eyes too saw a dream
Leaving the shield of my mother's affection
I went to fetch the colours of the rainbow

And where it has brought me, I do not know

What a sultry noon!
Wherever you go
you find no shelter
Where did I come from?
Where am I bound?
In this dreadful desert
not a single village
anywhere in sight

Wherever one looks
only whirlwinds of sand
in the form of human beings
Only whirlwinds of sand
I dreamed of light and fragrance
Now dust dances before my eyes
I dreamed of peace and love
Now anxiety wages war within my heart

O Dreamers!
The merchants of ammunition and death
are not dreamers,
they mortgage dreams

O Innocents running after butterflies!
Return to your abodes!
I too dreamed
And lost the pupils of my eyes

O Dreamers like me!
You too will be shattered
You too defeated