Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih Poems

Do not ask me the whys and the wherefores;
poetry is anoetic; you might as well question the rooster
or the plums, why they put on spring blossoms.
But how and when poetry first came to me?
...

Friends, kindred spirits, civilized people all…
I'm not here to defend evil or the Taliban.
“Behind the Veil” has exposed them as a
weird breed raising sabres against beards and TVs,
...

Like Shelley with his ‘blithe spirit',
I have often tried to understand
this man named Kynpham.
...

Sundori


Beloved Sundori,
...

For managing to love
an object of scorn,
they place around my neck
a garland of threats.
...

Where I live
it is cold and dark inside.

So cold you never know
...

When the Prime Minister
planned a visit to the city
bamboo poles sprang up from pavements
like a welcoming committee.
...

‘De mortuis nil nisi bonum'. - Latin Proverb

Funerals are places where I stand aloof
amidst whispers, hush-toned gossip
...

The madman of Laitumkhrah
goes to the local post office
to post his letter to the sky.
‘A letter to the sky, how much? '
...

Deep inside a pine forest,
we sought the mountain.

Between Sohpet Bneng, our holy mountain,
...