Shayamal

Rainbow of Dasani’s Skirt

From the fury
of the blistering winds
flutters Dasani’s skirt,

like a failed nation’s flag
wavers Dasani’s skirt

Million brutal kicks it has survived
water wells of blood it has shed
so many rapes
so many water channels
it has pumped into landlord’s barren fields
no matter how weary it looks
beaten by heat and rain
it’s still a rainbow
like a garden of million flowers
this Dasani’s skirt

Went to get firewood
from the forest

never returned

Does someone know where
must be fluttering the rainbow
of Dasani’s embroidered skirt?

Translated from the Nepali by Yuyutsu Sharma 

Shyamal

Also hailing from far Western Nepal, Shyamal has published three poetry collections, Tapainko MarfatLaya Brahma and Hattarma Yatra, and an anthology of essays entitled Ritto Gaon. He is currently working on a novel and regularly contributes literary columns to Nepal’s vernacular dailies and works as consultant to various Non- Government Organizations in Kathmandu.

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