Avinash Shrestha
Lord!
Have you come here and slept off!
Do you know
Whatever has occurred in the city there?
The farmlands have been shrouded by houses all over
The streams there have been drying up
In place of the Bishnumati and the Bagmati, these days
Two stench-filled drains crawl
Like two pythons.
Lord! Like Rip Van Winkle
Someday when you shall wake up
In place of this city you shall see
Lying astray a dead city
The lifeless extension of ruins all around.
Lord!
Have you come here and slept off!
***
Translated from Nepali by Shivam Sharma Kharel
[Avinash Shrestha is an eminent poet, experimental story writer, screenplay writer in Nepali films.]Â
Translator Shivam Sharma Kharel is a postgraduate in Political Science from Madarihat, Dooars, India.Â