Tanka Wanem
Those who dismantle the Sagarmatha
to check the growth of Dhaulagiri
shorten the life of Mundhum
by stripping Sumnima off her clothes,
in unrestrained tongues.
The peak of the Chomolongmo,
bends and mocks in dream.
But
the gods of consciousness
reject the hands raised in prayer
the mountain of the age gradually falls,
but, the eternal truth –
when faith doesn’t shatter,
a new sun rises again,
choosing the hour of an owl’s hoot.
In fact, when is the truth ever vanquished?
The flowers of snow
keep blooming in silver
all over the peak of Sagarmatha.
Neither is a rock-mountain dismantled,
nor is the wrap of faith ever stripped!
Tanka Wanem (b. 1963) is a Nepali poet, based in the UK. Penjiri Pen-Mikha (Collection of Limbu poems), Sanghuri ra Budhasubba and Sanginko Murchhanna (Collection of poems), Sindholung Phago Wanem Banshawali Itihas ra Mundhum (History, Research and Genealogy), and Shleshmantakko Sammang (Collection of Stories) are his published works.