Poetry:
Krishna Prasai
Some Zen Poems
1.
A tree
That was falling at the blow of innumerable strikes,
Never knew
The axe felling it had a handle
Made from one of its own branches.
2.
When the issue of dividing the legacy came up
They had hard times sorting things out;
For, their old parents
Didn’t fall in anyone’s share.
3.
It is certain that death grabs everyone
But the rich thus make fun of him—
“He died because he was very poor.”
4.
At Aryaghat
There was no corpse
Being cremated with a wad of cash.
5.
The mountain looks better without organs
As does a flower;
It too doesn’t have a part
That exposes it honor!
6.
I counseled him much;
Did all I could to appease him
But nothing of the sort worked
For, Yamaraj refused to be bribed.
7.
I can’t tell for sure
If the faggots you gathered
Would cook the dinner this evening
Or cremate a corpse at the river bank.
This is the only truth—
When the faggots catch fire
The smoke that curls up is of the same color
And same is the color of ash.
8.
The cremated one
Had cried a lot while alive;
The only difference, now, was—
The cremators were shedding tears.
9.
The entire bouquet
Feels grossly dishonored
When all its flowers wither and sag
Like a muffler around the neck of a politician
Who has just lost an election.
10.
The high-placed campaigners
Come out boozed from a shot
They drink at a Dalit’s home
And segregate in the name of castes.
Aryaghat : The bank of the Bagmati River in Kathmandu where the Hindus cremate dead bodies
Yamaraj : Hindu God of death
Dalit : Dalits are people considered of low caste in the Nepali society. One of their traditional occupations is brewing and selling alcoholic drinks.
Translation: Mahesh Paudyal
