Abandoning ancestral homelands of meaning
words find new shelter.
From lisping and napkins
through the attire, 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 further:
Mother’s embraces, Father’s blessings,
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 a misty phantom.
All escapes all
from temples, God
from hearts, hope,
from courts, justice,
from embraces, intimacy
and I, from myself
the sky, from the sky.