Bhuwan Thapaliya
My heart and my mind,
they used to be the best of friends.
Closely locked in each other’s arms,
they waltzed together in peace.
But of late, they are not.
There was a misunderstanding,
they both stood their ground
and simply let each other be.
And amid this confusion—
an absence of understanding—
my heart has died.
Now my mind mourns its passing.
I feel like someone
who’s stumbled upon the corpses
of the universal deities.
There is no one,
no force on this earth,
who can reincarnate my heart
and gift it back to me.
It is dead now.
My mind killed it.
My mind is the culprit.
Will my heart ever get justice?
I wish I could say,
‘One day, surely’—
but I’m sorry, I can’t.
Thoughts move at a rapid pace,
but I don’t know what’s on my mind.
The heart, forever exploited
by the mind in this materialistic world
has been cremated now.
(Bhuwan Thapaliya is a poet from Kathmandu, Nepal, who balances his career as an economist with his passion for poetry. He has authored five poetry collections, including Safa Tempo: Poems New and Selected (Nirala Publications, New Delhi). His work has been featured in international journals, global anthologies, and initiatives like Life in Quarantine (Stanford University) and the International Human Rights Art Festival. An active voice in the literary world, he has read and presented his work in countries including South Korea, India, the U.S., Thailand, and Cambodia.)