Rambabu Dahal

The Signal

She entered the chamber of my heart

distressed

and scoured

the nooks and crannies

as if I might have secretly stored

something someplace

and then

just like a whim

she left.

She’s still at large.

She was my real poem.

Cover pages of Man Ka Swarharu (Voices of the Heart)

A Dream Journey

Only moments ago

that before I woke up from sleep

I was going to or coming from

some unknown land . . .

In the endless path

was the cohort of wayfarers

restlessly buying and selling in the marketplace

I wasn’t merely a bystander

Holding a bag of curiosity

empty in my heart, I was looking for

another dream . . .

Translated from the Nepali by Roshan Koirala.