~Nakul Silwal~
Translated by Yuyutsu Sharma
We aren’t aware
of the hands that take pride
in building passages
we are forced to take.
We do not know
nature of the substance,
odor of the soil,
color of the stones
that make
the resting plinths
where we are asked
to kill demons of our fatigue.
We are ignorant
of the owners of the courtyards
where water wells
of our thirsts lie imprisoned.
Our eyes do not see
any alluvial gardens of gusto.
We are all trapped
like hungry tigers in a cave,
in the caves
of our mind’s gloom.
Nakul Silwal, who allegedly took his life due to depression, was a well known poet, novelist and editor of Bagar, the longest running literary magazine in Nepali language in Nepal. He was instrumental to promoting Nepali literature through his Bagar Foundation and received several awards including Yugkavi Siddhicharan Puruskar and Nepal Literary Journalists’ Award. He authored over half a dozen books of poetry and fiction, most noted being, Nakul Silwalka Kavita. In the 90s he brought out a special Asian Poetry issue of Bagar in English language with Yuyutsu Sharma as Guest Editor.
(Source : Drunkenboat.com)
