Refugee

Jyoti Jungle

You are unwanted, dreams!
don't come looking for my eyes.
I've left my vision in the horizons
of my nation.
here I'm without eyes
here I'm without address.

I'm a leaf in the wind
with the tree I grew up on
left far behind.
my whole being rested on a leaf
don't know how that fell off
an old leaf I'm with yellowed satiety now
after living life that was pure green.

I live an adult pain, with
each breath aching.
the past stings my being,
I live a dead weight upon myself.
the alien soil outside
the frontiers doesn't yet know
me after so many years.
the blue sky above me feels corrupt like a hell
water in the refugee camp
does not quench my growing thirst.

don't pester me, you criminal comforts!
it's long since I chose the life
of a recluse.
I was a coward that
I dreaded prisons and fled.
my corpse will travel home one day
I'm sorry I could not live here
while I'm alive.




(Translated from Nepali by Manu Manjil)