CHEPANGS OF KANDA
Naked brown torsos
Dry withered breasts
Wrinkled and sucked
Their belly stuck to their bones
And midriff wrapped in a ragged cloth
And naked children
Who slept with empty stomachs last night
Stare in silence suckling their fingers
For years I have been studying about them
They have been the evidences of my research
They have been the colours of my creation
Part of my introduction
Only after watching their pictures
On a facebook exhibition
I realised
It was only me who had changed in their names
They still are
What they were yesterday.
Translation, by the author himself | 1st October 2011, Kathmandu
Mishra plans to translate more of his poems after he retires from politics. His Nepali poems have been compiled in ‘Rabindra Mishraka Kabita’. Please go to the BOOKS section to find out more about his poetry book and where to purchase it.