Old Woman

Manju Kanchuli (Tiwari)

An old woman peeps through her window
Democracy in her yard 
Resting under her chin
Her own beautiful wrinkled hand
 A wonderful formless form in peacefulness
Chiseling it to boost the aroma of the goddess
In her nose, eyes, mouth and ears 
Endurance in rumple, glory in ironed crumple
Tolerance in reticence, concrete
Is it suffering? Is it bliss ?
Unknown !
One cannot see
It is smeared inside the stone-wall of her face
Her vocal cord is shut 
or perhaps cut long before
She looks beautiful
A beautiful bust of gallery
A tourist takes her pictures from various angles
Made of stone !
Perhaps a goddess in the city of the temples
A bestowed honor to lie shut
So suffocating wind into the fore-wall
Is it forever ?

Poet Manju was born in January 1950 in Kathmandu. She started writing at the age of eight, and her first work to be published was a poem ‘Dharti ra Aakash’ (The Earth and the Sky) in Ratnashree in 1967. Her books published so far include poetry collections Kiranka Chhalharu (Waves of Rays), Mero Jeevan Mero Jagat (My Life, My World) Two Sisters, Aatmapratiti (Self-Reflections) and Palakbhitra Palakbahira (Inside and Outside the Eyelashes), story collections Kehi Maya Kehi Paridhi (A Little Love and a Few Limitations),  Manju Kanchulika Katha (Stories of Manju Kanchuli),  Vishwamitrako Suhagraat  (Vishwamitra’s Honeymoon) a co-authored novel Aakash Bibhajit Chha (The Sky is Divided) etc. She lives in Kathmandu with her family.