Wednesday, June 30, 2021
They went
leaving the city
this settlement and streets
deserting everything, they went
Those one-sided lovers
who kept loving
those sitting on the terrace
just because they ate chatpate
getting down in the street with them
They simply went
leaving the love letters
without address
on crossroads
garden and parks
Like the poor hatchlings
striving for feeds
Handing half part of their life
to their stone hearted house owners
and saying they would not return again
Placing on the hood of the bus
some tattered blankets
and empty plates
wiping their tears, they went
Building the most number of cities
and never able to become city-dwellers
those actual owners of cities
during the disaster
after the city gets more alienated
chewing flattened rice and dalmot, they went
They went
Empty handed they went
Empty empty, they went
Carrying a life
like a broken clay pot
which can never be repaired
Wandering nooks and crannies of cities
those travellers went
rubbing the sour smell of alcohol
They carried land ownership documents
of sorrow, which cannot be mortgaged
Like the endless ants line
the Sisyfuses went
carrying hunger ridden cracked lips
covering their mouth with 10 rupees mask
They went
emptying this city
this junction, bazar and settlements
deserting everything, they went
They went
handing the living responsibility too
to the lonely city
saying they would never return, they went
Now if the roads for Pajeros get bad
saying they won’t come for repair, they went
No more carrying, longer flags than hunger
never to march in demonstrations again
they said and went
(translation,Laxmi Pun)
