Sushant Thapa
Karma Bleeds!
Fates of decadence,
Break promises of reciting
The future scriptures.
Koel’s lore,
Not a melody, anymore.
Soots from Safa Tempos* – woes
For Kohl-eyed passers-by.
Silences,
Mourn & Mourn & Mourn
Chorus of prayers
Offer soothing ragas
For the scarlet dawn.
The country of temples,
A living goddess –Kumari **, and
The wondrous laps of Himalayas,
Grow old.
A Mother’s Dream of poet Gopal Prasad Rimal
Unsung in the Rodhi Ghar. ***
Let not the Garland for Bhai Tika****
Forbid festivities.
*Safa Tempos are three-wheeler public vehicle like autos, especially plying on the roads of Kathmandu Valley in Nepal.
**Kumari is the living child goddess from Newari Community worshipped especially in the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal.
****Rodhi Ghar is essentially a house to relax in Gurung villages in Nepal, where the Gurung community gather after a full day’s work to sing, dance and be festive.
****Bhai Tika is the fifth and last day of Deepawali in Nepal. On Bhai Tika, sisters put “Tika” on their brothers’ forehead.
(Sushant Thapa is a Nepalese poet from Biratnagar-13, Nepal who holds a Master’s degree in English literature from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. He has published five books of poetry namely: The Poetic Burden and Other Poems (Authorspress, New Delhi, 2020), Abstraction and Other Poems (Impspired, UK, 2021), Minutes of Merit (Haoajan, Kolkata, 2021), Love’s Cradle (World Inkers Printing and Publishing, New York, USA and Senegal, Africa, 2023) and Spontaneity: A New Name of Rhyme (Ambar Publication House,2023). Sushant has been published in places like Sahitya Post, The Gorkha Times, The Kathmandu Post, The Poet Magazine, The Piker Press, Trouvaille Review, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Impspired, Harbinger Asylum, New York Parrot, Pratik Magazine, The Beatnik Cowboy, The Dope Fiend Daily, Atunis Poetry, EKL Review, The Kolkata Arts, Dissident Voice, Journal of Expressive Writing, As It Ought To Be Magazine, Spillwords, Mad Swirl, Ink Pantry, International Times and Outlook India among many. Sushant received Yashaswi Book Awards 2079 for his third book of poems “Minutes of Merit” in the recently held Kaling Literary Festival, Kathmandu.)
