Mother, O Mother -EnglishTranslationOf PunjabiPoem'Maaye ni Maaye'-SHIV KUMAR BATALVI

[mittal_pali]

English translation of Punjabi Poem 'Maaye ni Maaye mere geetaan de nainaan vich virhon di rarak pave' written by
'Shiv Kumar Batalvi'

Mother, O Mother,
My songs are like eyes
That sting with the grains of separation.
In the middle of the night
They wake and weep for dead friends.
Mother, I cannot sleep.
Upon them I lay strips of moonlight
Soaked in perfume,
But the pain does not recede.
I foment them
With warm sighs,
Yet they turn on me ferociously.
I am still young,
And need guidance myself.
Who can advise him?
Mother, would you tell him,
To clench his lips when he weeps
Or the world will hear him cry.
Tell him, mother, to swallow the bread
Of separation.
He is fated to mourn.
Tell him to lick the salty dew
On the roses of sorrow,
And stay strong.
Who are the snake handlers
From whom I can get another skin?
Give me a cover for myself.
How can I wait like a step of these people
Greedy for gold?
Listen, o my pain,
Love is that butterfly
Which is pinned forever to a stake.
]Love is that bee,
From whom desire,
Stays miles away.
Love is that palace
Where nothing lives
Except for the birds
Love is that hearth
Where the colored bed of fulfillment,
Is never laid.