~Bhisma Upreti~
Translation: Mahesh Paudyal
Every day I am doomed to read
on newspapers
titles I always dreamt of averting.
Profound rivers of tears
flow, hewing the banks of letters;
letters come all smeared in blood of maids
molested just now;
the blank space between letters
seem forlorn
like the shabby hair-parting of a widow
from where, vermilion has just been wiped.
An orphan’s future
as dark as a tunnel
extends across the dark letters on the newspaper;
the unanchored stampede of a goalless procession
and incessant serial killings attributed to ‘revolutions’
reeking nauseatingly on letters of the newspaper
Dreams like life should have
playfully pervaded
the pages on the newspaper;
they should have borne in them
the symphony of success.
But alas!
How could we be fortunate
to read on newspapers
the tales of simplicity and of people’s achievements!
The newspapers has, of late
turned into a raven’s thirst;
it has become a terror.
_________________________
Born in Jhapa, Bhisma Upreti has published 6 books of poetry and 6 books of essays. His works have been translated into English, Korean, Japanese, German, Serbian and Hindi and have appeared in Grey Sparrow, The Enthusiast, Orchestra, PEN Point, Our Voices, Indo-Asian Literature and other Nepali Literary Journals and magazines. He is the recipient of First prize in National Poetry Festival organized by Nepal Academy of Literature. Member of PEN Nepal chapter, Upreti got his Masters degree in Economics from the University of Southampton, UK. Upreti lives in Kathmandu with his family and works at Central Bank of Nepal.
(Source : Teesta Rangeet – Poetry Journal – Issue #3)
