Padma Devkota Poems

The bush is known by the rose:
the rose that dances upon a thorny stem
with its colorful emotions
and its fragrant love
...

The curse of night over
like a rock that breathes again
and feels the surge of sensation old as life
stretching her cramped limbs and cowered curves
...

With a streak of fire the sun wrote on
the water a name that is eternal,
the water guarded jealously a tone of colour
and song that mingled with the waves,
...

If only I could smooth all my ripples
and drive the hidden current of my soul
to wide seas beyond sight in soundless flow
through obscure paths hidden to searching eyes
...

There is no language after death
no thought no culture no habit
discourse none no quarrels nor amorous speech
no deceitful words nor confused stammering
...

All young girls who are yet single
And course along their lonely way
Dream each day to so commingle
With another to flow away
...

What can severed wings achieve?
No victory for the old and fallen!
What can a wounded, dying bird
Do to regain what has been stolen
...

In the race with time that ticks away with a steady pace
On tiny turtle legs of glory, discipline and grace,
My heart with joy has beaten much faster than my legs
Which linger, stop and run around a silly little peg.
...

(hello truth!) I have convinced myself
that you are the only friend who loves me
and shows me what I truly am. I fractured
long, long ago into a vowel which fits
...

When we returned, the house was full of dust
spread like a gray carpet to welcome home
very special people who, at last, must
like birds recall their nest though far they roam
...