NA KOI TOPI NA KOI SWETER
NA KOI MERE PASS RAJAI,
MAIN EK NANHA SA PANCHHI
DEKHO KAISI KISAMAT PAI
KANTO KE HAI BISTAR MERE,
MAA KE PANKH RAJAI,
THITHUR THITHUR KAR SHEET RITU ME
MAINE HAI RAAT BITAI
MAIN EK NANHA SA PANCHHI
DEKHO KAISI KISAMAT PAI?
Although our eyes have yet to meet
Our lips to softly touch . . .
I feel a special bond with you
One of desire, emotion, and trust.
So on this special day
May all your dreams come true
Especially the one I share
Of being there with you.
Wishing you a very Happy Birthday!
Let us have birthdays every day,
(I had the thought while I was shaving)
Because a birthday should be gay,
And full of grace and good behaving.
We can’t have cakes and candles bright,
And presents are beyond our giving,
But let lt us cherish with delight
The birthday way of lovely living.
For I have passed three-score and ten
And I can count upon my fingers
The years I hope to bide with men,
(Though by God’s grace one often lingers.)
So in the summers left to me,
Because I’m blest beyond my merit,
I hope with gratitude and glee
To sparkle with the birthday spirit.
Let me inform myself each day
Who’s proudmost on the natal roster;
If Washington or Henry Clay,
Or Eugene Field or Stephen Foster.
oh lots of famous folks I’ll find
Who more than measure to my rating,
And so thanksgivingly inclined
Their birthdays I’ll be celebrating.
For Oh I know the cheery glow|
Of Anniversary rejoicing;
Let me reflect its radiance so
My daily gladness I’ll be voicing.
And though I’m stooped and silver-haired,
Let me with laughter make the hearth gay,
So by the gods I may be spared
Each year to hear: “Pop, Happy Birthday.”
Birthdays do not end with death,
But last as long as love,
A maelstrom of memories
That grace and honor move.
And so we celebrate your day
By visiting your grave,
A place that you have left long since,
But is all that we have.
Dear spirit, come and join us here,
Your loved ones by your stone!
Come sweep across the barrier
To claim us as your own!
Happy birthday, dearest one!
Oh, happy, happy day!
Not even the most bitter night
Can take this joy away!
Happy birthday, Mother,
Even though you might prefer
Life without these markers,
Each too public to defer.
Now that you are fifty,
Sing to us your own sweet song,
That we might celebrate your life,
Rejoicing all night long.
Each of us has love to bring,
Each a special song to sing,
To lose your heart among.
