In Defence of Marxism

Javed Shaheen is perhaps the most politically mature and class conscious poet of his epoch and generation. If his poetry lights the lamp of hope in the darkness then it also has the knowledge of the mutual relationships of darknesses and the interrelationship of lamps. This is precisely the capability that can reduce the distance between the lamps of the parting light and the morning star. It is this profound perception and consciousness ; ideological firmness, that, in spite of his modesty and relative aloofness, takes him from the arena of Pakistan's Urdu poets into the realm of international literary circles that profess revolutionary thought and cosnciousness. And this proves that poetry is not only a reflection of language and culture, but it is also an expression of the desires, ideologies and thoughts for humanity's better future. The poems included in "I ask the Night" provide us the proof of this. Unless we challenge the night, we shall not get the answers. (from the back cover of "I ask the Night")

We publish here one poem by Javed Shaheen for the readers of In Defence of Marxism.

My Friends, My Comrades

Our hands will become hardened and scruffy
Our bodies will turn to stone
But we will bring new hands and new bodies
And continue to break mountains

Our warm blood shall continue to flow
Will immerse in the soil
We shall not let it go to waste
And continue to blossom with it

My friends, my comrades
The winds will sweep away
The black clouds,
The sun will shine
Every corner of meadows and forest shall light up

We shall immerse light in the depth of bodies
And waving our weapons
We shall march forward
Towards a brighter world

Javed Shaheen