~Krishna Bhakta Shrestha~
Translated by Yuyutsu Sharma
Lonely I am
as a yoked bull
in a life consumed
beyond orders of human exhaustion
lonely like a lump of flesh and blood
waiting in a mother’s womb
to grow into a full-fledged fetus
lonely as a Tibetan Mastiff
brought to the city as a pet
lonely as the repentance
of an old man laid down
on Brahamanaal spot of flooded river Bagmati
lonely as a stake
of a cattle-shed whose cow has died….
Oh! Why wouldn’t this canopy of fog burst ?
Why wouldn’t this curtain tear open ?
Let everyone be cursed like me
to see one’s nakedness
nakedness of a draught
in the cracking up of the clods of earth
tearing the eyes open
despite the luxuriant expansion
of leaves and twigs
hardly able to carry
the load of its own growth
lonely I am as
a banyan tree of a chautara,
a resting plinth
my loneliness
is naked like the wide open eyes
naked as a looking-glass
reflecting one’s image
utterly lonely …
Krishan Bhakta Shrestha, a major Nepali poet, has worked as editor of legendary literary journal Madhuparka for more than a decade and shaped the currents of contemporary Nepali literature. He also founded several literary movements and organizations like Rodi and Amlekh to protect the dignity of Nepali author from the pressures of oppressive one Party Panchayat regime that ruled Nepal for more than three decades. He lives in Kathmandu.
(Source : Drunkenboat.com)
