Yogendra Guragain
Take a look at this messy toddler
He is self-destructive as well as damaging
He begins the day by disheveling his mother’s hair
He obstinately demands for his grandma’s colorful cell phone
Pounds the floor if he does not get it
Hammers it on the concrete floor once given
Does not care if he will be chastised
Bends his squeaking mouth if yelled at, though
Still works his way toward recklessness
Does not fear for his parents’ disciplining
Wrecks his brother’s books
Throws stuff at mom’s food
Grabs and mouths garbage
Targets with projectiles passersby from the balcony
Pulls and steps onto his grandpa’s spectacles
Rips his mother’s weeding necklace
Wipes the pledge of loyalty for her husband: vermillion
Attempts to tumble down the stairs.
He has no sense of fear
Yet he is so defenseless,
Too vulnerable to harm
Because he is a feeble rogue.
Despite the toddler’s wildness and his frailty
His mother never punishes him
She does not bump his head against the wall
Does not rage with ear-piercing obscenities
‘Cause she has humanity
And a mother’s insight into human behavior.
[Yogendra is a Nepali poet based in New York, USA]