He bought new, harsh
and fierce boots to
limit the movement
of the sterns strolling about the garden.
He hanged a clumsy ball
of iron in the legs of purple gullinule
to strip it off its nature.
He dangled a bulky nose ring
to fetter the graceful
struts of the Himalayan lophophorus.
He wore the boots
that mimicked death's
nails and claws.
He sent winter
to love's courtyard.
He fuelled
the agitation
of his own mind.
But all the things
that he did
turned to him
and began to
pull his root to
wipe him out of
the flower's home.
Then he kneeled down
and swore he had intruded
into their soul
and their lives.

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Mukul Dahal

Professionally a teacher, Mukul Dahal is a new voice from Nepal. He lives in Chitwan and works as the in-charge of SOS Hermann Gmeiner School running under SOS Kinderdorf International. He edits Pen Himalaya, a literary quarterly that publishes poetry, short stories, and interviews. He has a book of poems originally written in Nepali for which he has been awarded the Shree Bani Prize. He also has a collection of his poems in English translation called The Assembly of Voices and Other Poems. He has translated a number of Nepali poems into English and writes in both English and Nepali. His poetry has appeared in literary journals at home and abroad.

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© 2006 Mukul Dahal