By Shrawan Mukarung
To kill the earth’s most primitive man
You need the newest thing.
Now with you
What such a thing is there…?
A reformed democracy?
A republic?
Any state-of-the-art guns,
Tanks, missiles, rocket-launchers
Organic weapons
Or-
International songs…?
You burnt his house.
And with the house –
Burnt to ashes were his children
His wife
His kith and kin
Cow-shed, goats, pigs
And the flowers were burnt
His bhangra, bhoto and gado
His bakkhu, dhoti
Hakupatasi and all he wore
Do you know
Why couldn’t he be burnt?
You labeled him a terrorist
Labeled him a government spy
With your extreme torture
Got his modest hands cut asunder
His innocent eyes and tongue scratched out
His throat and legs dismembered.
You roared victorious
After stabbing his earth-like heart
With a cruel bayonet –
But, do you know
Why didn’t he die?
To kill the earth’s most primitive man
You need the newest thing.
Now, with you
What such a thing is there…?
Language?
Religion?
Race
Culture
Community
Nationality
Human rights
Or –
The supreme America?
Now with you
What such a thing remains there…?
That can kill
The earth’s most primitive man.
Can you kill the paddy fragrance in the low-lands?
Can you kill the breath of the wind in the hills?
Or-
The scent of water in the sea?
With you now
What such a thing remains there…?
Pray tell! What is there,
That can kill
The whitish smell of the earth’s sweat?
Translated by RamjiTimalsina
Shrawan Mukarung (b. 1968) is a famous Nepali poet, lyricist, essayist and dramatist. Born in Bhojpur in Eastern Nepal, he stated writing in 1983. His popular publications are Desh Khojdai Janda (While Looking for the Nation, poems, Jeevanko Laya (Tune of Life, poems) Hiunko Darbar (A Snow Palace, songs); Yalambar (Play, 1996); Phoolko Aawaz (Voice of the Flowers, songs), Niskarsh (Conclusion, songs), Bise Nagarchiko Bayan ra Anya Kavita (Bise Nagarchi’s Statement and Other Poems, VCD, 2006 and book, 2010), Sun Re Siyaram (Siyaram, Listen to Me, songs) and Bhawalaya (The Abode of Feelings, essays). He lives with his family in Kathmandu.