Against the Devil on the Move

(In solidarity with the people of Colombia and Palestine)

Keshab Sigdel

We are sleepless since ages
But we are awake since ages
Assuming us asleep, your men bombarded our homes
The pigeons sheltering in them flew far and away
To tell the world your cowardice act.

In a rage,
Your men arrested and chained us
The wind that touched our body grew into a gush of storm
And blew your fort
Constructed in the swamp of greed and inhumanity.

In response we spoke
We spoke against your cruelty
So, you pulled out our tongues
But those tongues yelled even more louder to reveal your deeds
To let the world know the devil on the move.

You grew more insane
You poked into our eyes with the bayonet of the guns
The moon and the stars witnessed your crimes
Before your sponsored cameras distorted the truths.

Yes, last night, a lot of us died
But that is not the end of the story
We resurrected back to life
We marched to the open field
Not to avenge your crime
But to ensure justice to our people
Now, we fear no death
We fear no bullets
Our bones have turned into guns
Our skin became the shield
Our eyes superseded the darkest of your thoughts
And our mouths exploded
Against your atrocities

Living, we will fight with our voices
Dead, we will fight with our memories
Now you will see us everywhere
We are Colombians! We are Palestinians!


[Keshab Sigdel (b. 1979) is a Nepali poet and translator, who writes both in Nepali and English. Lecturer of English at Tribhuvan University, he has been working as an incredible bridge among writers from Nepal and abroad through collaborative efforts including translation. His seminal publications include his collection of poems Samaya Bighatan, Six Strings (co-authored), and Barve Sonca/Colours of the Sun (poesis) and several titles in translation. Editor of An Anthology of Contemporary Nepali Poetry (Big Bridge, USA: 2016), he also edits two other journals Rupantaran (publication of Translation Department, Nepal Academy, the apex body of Literature and Arts in Nepal) and Of Nepalese Clay (English literary magazine of the Society of Nepali Writers in English). He has served as an editor for academic journals Perspectives on Higher Education (2016), SciMass (Islamabad, 2016-2017) Devkota Studies (2012-2014), Literary Studies (2009-2012), Chrysanthemum (2004), and Pragya (2006).]