Sustenance Poem by Naseer Ahmed Nasir

From a small patch of land too
so much can be had
Wheat, rice, pulses, sugarcane
vegetables, leaves, saag, salad
wheat-bran, husk, fodder, manure
He who falls in love with the grain
is to run amok forever
dream or reality, nothing matters
unable to eat, but a few morsels
dances in a frenzy and runs around wild
For the sake of unending hunger, grow more
to make your motherland proud
Drink the tears, even if humiliated
bear the pain, learn to live with the sorrows
Imported from far-off lands
Honey, cheese, crackers, coffee
Jellies, jams, compounds, ketchups
Mulberries, Tuna meat
eat everything, eat all
Global-citizen, they happen to be
famished, naked, dying of thirst
bloody politics, pale economy
rescinding ages, rising stocks
tears, sighs, woes and bruises
From a small patch of land too
so much can be had! !

(English translation by Kamran Awan)