Shiv Kumar Batalvi - Separation

People worship god.
I worship this separation from you.
It is worth Haj to a hundred Meccas,
This separation from you.

People say I am as brilliant as the sun,
They say I am famous.
What a fire it has lit in me,
This separation from you.

Behind me is my shadow,
Ahead, is my darkness.
I fear that it might leave me,
This separation from you.

No taint of the body is in it,
Nor litter of the mind,
All has been winnowed out,
By this separation from you.

When sorrow comes, bringing with it
Loneliness and pain,
I pull it close to me,
This separation from you.

Sometimes it colors my words
Sometimes it weaves through my songs,
It has taught me great deal,
This separation from you.

When sorrow, defeated, fell at my feet,
Amazed at my fidelity,
The world came out to see
This separation from you.

Love earned me fame.
People flocked to praise me.
It wept in my embrace,
This separation from you.

The world turned out to tell me,
That I had been unwise.
It sat me on a throne today
This separation from you.

[Translated from 'BirhaRa' by Suman Kashyap]

Shiv Kumar Batalvi

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/separation-46/