Poetry:
Rajeshwar Karki
The mad and the law
I wonder if, mixed with your tear at this moment,
The smell of my sweat, as stench,
Might have entered the kitchen !
Last night,
You didn’t accept my video call at all
I wonder if the stench of my sweat
Entered your bedroom from the Gulf !
Running away from there,
You reached the stranger’s bed !
I pinched myself, wondering if it was a dream
After seeing you at the window, I was convinced
With the smell of labour, I was standing on my own soil
Like a lonely banyan tree.
At this moment,
In bare feet, long hair and beard, and dirty clothes
Waiting on the footpath nearby the zebra crossing,
The ones who overtook my waiting self
Considering me mad, who goes against time
I see them on the chair leading the country
I see them somewhere speaking about the future of the country
And somewhere, teaching the meaning of the rule of law
Today I see those people who left the country on their own
When I went to the forest carrying a sickle and a head strap.
Declaring themselves the makers of the country’s economy
And somewhere, I see right in front of my eyes people engaged
In the unwinnable race by brazenly flouring the traffic rules
But I am still waiting till today for the light
Nearby the zebra crossing on the footpath to cross the road
While waiting, all, except me, changed…!
At this time…
How could you, the one who ran away from the stench of my sweat,
Recognize me in my disorderly dirty clothes ?
Having changed its criteria, the country, of course, does not recognize me
Why would it recognize me, an unbecoming citizen ?
The powerful time that makes the sane insane and vice versa
Certainly does not recognize me
And today, I am not surprised a bit
For not recognizing myself in my selfie !
I have heard-
No law applies to the mad !
Translation: Bal Bahadur
Thapa
