Bhisma Upreti

Bhisma Upreti two poems

Poems On Hills

I The walls have been built
With broken rocks on the hill ,
Ted mud of the hill plastered on them,
The colour of kamera and the roof of stone.
My house is small but much akin to the hill.

Suffering resembling the hill too dwells here.
This little house has offered a shelter for it like me.
It sleeps with me the night through and wakes when I wake.
Gets up and walks with me in the morning.
Much like my own shadow,
My suffering.

The hills tore open
Its heart to me.

There were dreadful landslips,
Tears and an anguish of endless suffering,
And hunger,
Its echo that returned from another hill.

Having lived in the hill for years too
The hill I perceived was only its outward appearance
Where flowers bloomed,
Green trees stood
And a clear blue sky opened over them.

The hill was counseling us, ‘Boys,
It’s not easy to live,
One has to bear
Unendurable pain
And has to flash a smile with it.

Only today
I took in the hill.

Translated by Mukul Dahal

©Bhisma Upreti

Bhisma Upreti, author of half a dozen of books, is known for his art of poetry that is distinctly different from most of the poets of his generation. He started writing poetry at an early age. He came to prominence with his remarkable collection titled Aakash Khasyo Bhane Ke Hunchha? ( What if the Sky Falls? ). He has also published a couple of books of travelogue. His book of travelogue titled Neelo Paani Ra Neela Bhawanaharu ( Blue Waters and Blue Emotions ) won for him Uttam Shanti Puraskar.