Yubaraj Bhandari
I have not planted you in my eyes,
but in the deepest garden of my heart,
where the soil is tender.
To love you
is not to claim you as mine.
To come as the warm sunlight in your cold mornings,
to quench your thirst as the soothing rain—
for that, you don’t have to belong to me.
Even as you remain your own,
my love will never wane.
I did not nurture you
with the hope of resting in your shade,
nor with the desire to breathe
the fresh air from your leaves.
I did not tend to you
for the fragrance of your bloom,
nor for the charm of your beauty—
but for the beauty beyond beauty,
for the essence of your being.
All I wish
is to see your branches of ideals
bathed in humility,
to see your dreams soar high
and kiss the open sky,
to watch the leaves of your joy
dance in the whispering winds,
to witness the fruit of your courage
survive the fiercest of storms.
Even if one day I forget everything,
if my memory fades into nothingness,
even if I lose myself,
I will never forget you.
For I have not planted you in my eyes,
but in the deepest garden of my heart,
where the soil is tender.
(Translated from the author’s Nepali poem Mali)
