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Saturday, November 23, 2024

The Potter

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Hemant Biwas

Like a mother
Who, winding strands of patience
Lifts her sickly child all along the way
Until she reaches the hospital doors
I also carried clay smeared on the walls of Kaji’s mansion
That glistens like the turban on the head of Dhami
Or the cases of vermillion
That painted the hair-parting of thousands on the wedding day
And have carried
Leaf plates and saucers for the priest’s votive powder and grains

On the mantle bald like the slope at Bhasu
I have hung a tumpline shaped like my country’s map
And carried slates and stones
To build the abodes of gods residing on the hills up there;
Once again I am carrying today
The bricks, upon which
You have secretly planted your thumb-mark

A lonely traveller standing at a crossroad
I never know until I arrive at this bend
How many morns
And how many dusks of how many people
I have carried so far
My arithmetic of folded fingers
Can hardly compute all these accounts.
More, what use is remembering it all?

There’s only one thing that pricks my heart now
And forces me to remember
As to why I could never carry
Rising and falling notes of lives
Yours and mine
That hum like Saili Gaad that flows nearby

Trans: Mahesh Paudyal

Hemant Biwas (b. 1974), who made himself known through his metrical poems and songs two decades back to Nepali readership, launched his first prose poems through a collection titled Saipalko Angan in 2011. Before this, the works to his credit were three CD albums: Biwaska Samrai, Asaujko Joon, Yadai Janambhari, a poetry collection titled Afnai Mann Sanga and a collection of songs titled Katha Eutai Timro Mero. In 2011, he was declared the best lyricist of the year by Radio Nepal. He has also been a regular contributor to many national dailies and journals of Nepal on issues concerning the cultural life of far-western regions. He originally hails from Doti district of Nepal.

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