Shyam Rimal
Rice is infested
stale and smelly
potatoes rotten
piles of lentils creepy-crawly
and sacks of
salt out-of-date
without a glint
of iodine
This defines true
face of our nation,
where the essence
of all NGOs, INGOs
and Government agencies,
all mingle into one rotten core
wherein one after
the other
pandemic relief funds
are mounted up
to fuel festivities
in the entire house
and elsewhere
enduring calamity
the cold hearths
continue to shiver
without a trace
of livid flames
warming fragile walls
of our hungry huts.
(Translated from Nepali by Yuyutsu RD Sharma, the poem is taken from Rimal’s new anthology ‘Chamero: Pandemic Poems’)