Sibu Dhakal
No sooner had she felt
the pelvic chill and the stain
than she was thrusted into the byre
and mured up therein
followed by rituals, thereafter,
she could scarcely recall.
Drained, giddy with pelvic pain
she could not stand claustrophobia
whole night passed with the
scoundrels’ tearing of the straw walls
peeping in through.
She could but zip her lips
like a cocoon
and lie on the fodder
where her sister survived
a leopard attack last weekend;
where her mother lost her life
while breastfeeding her brother,
a few years back, owing to snake bite.
Where the little brother, who has
respiratory sequelae caused by
pneumonia, was born.
Fear of snakes falling off the walls
thus brings the pungent dawn.
She remembers her grandmother,
defiled, in byre, by a pensioner.
Thereupon, she attains maturity
in order to undergo painful monthlies
with no tampon or wad
inside the byre being filthy,
untouched;
all through frigid nights and sweltering days,
unloved and snubbed.
She counts the days
having to go through
the ordeal of death every month.
Tepid about the lorn lassie
the crass culture continues
to commemorate its triumph
[Sibu Dhakal was born in 1976. He completed his schooling in India. He completed Master of Arts in English Literature from Tribhuvan University, Nepal in 2008, and Bachelor of Education in ELT in 2010. He has been involved in the teaching profession for the last two decades. His first novel in English “Quest for Virginity” was published in 2008. His poems, short stories, and critical writings have appeared in various magazines and online portals. His areas of interest are socio-cultural transformations and the issues of Nepalese diaspora.]