In connection with the First May

Original In Pushto by Sardar Yousafzai
Translated by Aadil Omer

"The Young Pushtun Laborers"


Tired in search of work,
they are consumed by pleads and requests,
How would they enjoy their life!
Our youth are devoured by labor

Together they decide to go to Attock
For the harvest of peanuts crop,
Someone favors Kashmir to reap grasses,
In its cooler weathers,
Another wants them to go to Mansehra
For the tobacco burners
And they are ready to leave their homes

With a pair of clothes in a polythene bag
They are consumed by worries of work and wealth,
How would they enjoy their life!
Our youngsters are devoured by labor

Some leave for Attock, some for Kashmir
While others march the roads of Pindi,
I myself have seen them flooding
The squares of all the bigger cities
In Mansehra , they fill and ignite
Their contracted burners,
With sweaty bodies and filthy clothes;
They keep long vigils

Their beautiful faces; their rosy cheeks
Are consumed by the smoky dust of time
How would they enjoy their life!
Our youngsters are devoured by labor

Unquenched in Lahore or Pindi
Most of them leave for karachi
Starting from Sohrab Goth
They wander across every populous place,
If lucky; they are gate keepers in a factory,
If not; they struggle on desperately,
Hence tears my heart;
How long will they toil in misery

Crushed in the mill of haplessness
They are consumed by the unjust mill owner
How would they enjoy their life!
Our youth are devoured by labor.