A black hole in space,
an oasis drained of itself,
a corpse tossed beneath a bridge
on the outskirts of town?
Hey, listen—a face—
I found myself in you
I embrace you and falling at your feet
ask—you must tell me
what am I?
Am I merely
a night exhausted by lightning bolts?
A thorny bush of berries?
Am I the avenging curse of Sati
or the blade of Bhimsen Thapa’s suicide?
A black hole in space,
an oasis drained of itself,
a corpse tossed beneath Tukuche bridge?
or the Kot massacre entire
dazed in itself?
Tell me, what am I?
What am I?
Only an instance of helplessness
turned toward myself
or a series
each in its own right arising and ceasing
going and coming?