Abandoning ancestral homelands of meaning
words find new shelter,
From lisping and napkins
through the attires, moustaches of youth.
I’m heading towards wrinkles and walking sticks.
From where I stand
the graveyard is nearer than my home.
The noonday shadow
under my foot
stretches in the afternoon.
Everything is running farther:
Mother’s embraces, Father’s blessing,
the childhood landscapes
the playground of my youth
the bamboo groves.
My classmates who used to be punished together
for
multiplication mistakes
are disappearing:
Bhakta Bahadur... died in an accident,
Ambarey. .. joined the army,
Rajaman, Dilip, Kesang.. .no news of them,
backbencher Ramey is a distantly smiling officer.
After an unknown big bang
villages, neighbours, friends, cities
form supernovas.
Spaces fly from sight, gasp, body.
The past remains just a misty phantom.
All escapes all
from temples, God,
from hearts, hope,
from courts, justice,
from embraces, intimacies,
and I, from myself,
the sky, from the sky.
Translated from Nepali by Roshan
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Parasmani Shama
