we filter our water before we drink it
we filter our air before we inhale it
we have yet to learn to filter
the news before we swallow it,
the leaders' promise before we applaud it,
the friendly neighbour's pat before we discover
how easily we are beguiled.
we have played tall with each other
without seeing how great dwarfs we are.
we have believed in the volume of the demanding voice,
in its commanding tone
but never understood how logic too rules the world.
we have polished and glittered our exterior
but have sounded like hollow tin-people
signifying nothing to the larger world.
friends who have sought home elsewhere and left us behind
to strengthen our faith in fate
after the natural calamity
after the imposed embargo
should you wonder how we are doing here
let me tell you we are fine in kathmandu
for we filter the air we inhale
and we filter the water we drink
and we measure the street to work and home
with strong feet
and the captains of the nation fail to execute
the 90% strong constitution
against a weak minority
in a democratic republic of nepal.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
Thanks for sharing your poem about Kathmandu. The first three lines drew me in to read on. Well done.