Such a Country!

Tara Parajuli
Translated from Nepali by Badal Devi Chamling
 

Beyond the sight of the capital city,
there lies Karnali.
It has steep slopes;
It yields not much rice.
It deals with shortage of salt,
Its native proletariats toil day in and day out
as if they were oxen,
but their stomachs hardly bask.

Slums usually fall to famines
Anguish grins
Cholera germs frolic
Gastritis or cancer majestically indulges
Poor uterus! It allows no mothers to serve full lifetime;
Such a country also is there!

A well-off Kathmandu often goes thither through so-called fasting
For bed of roses and riches
And
The lord favors him one quarter of his treasure.