Three Poems on Nepal Earthquake
By Neha Basnet
When we suffered, you just scrolled down
Did you see the photos on Facebook
Of Children crying besides their Mothers’ dead body
Sickly patches on their clothes slowly drifting
Then forgotten, like pies in the sky?
Image of children with limbs spilt
Sleeping on the ground in cold winter,
sheets stretched unto their waists
It was an earthquake – a scene difficult to imagine
An unfriendly wave, a sin.
You needn’t imagine. There were photos and videos
Shared abundantly on social networking sites, your life!
You saw? You felt sorry briefly? You too wrote RIP?
Then scrolled down to like the earthquake pouty selfies?
Their lives have turned into insipid speech
And poverty and haplessness;
Half-naked children laughing, flies flying over their sore
Their suffering couldn’t be subsided,
Photos taken and then left, alone.
***
The day when earth thumped
It took thousands of innocent lives
Left the deepest scars on your hearts
Like mental lozenge-shaped leaves,
Befalling unpleasantly.
The ground shook thunderously, then thumped
“Norki, Norki, Norki,” Mother screamed
But the daughter couldn’t ease her way out
Could we call that nature playing foul?
Imagine, a mother seeing her only child squashed by a wall
In the daylight steel her mind got sealed
Everyone asks, how do you feel?
A dry noodle and biscuit come in the deal.
Her life is no longer the same, her only hope
Her daughter couldn’t compete for fame
Suicide was her only game
Living alone she says is such a shame.
***
After the quake
Look at the time – a year has passed
You look at the house and the house looks at you
Nothing but like a fool
A year has passed, and still there is hope in those eyes
You don’t know when it’s gonna be
A house, flooding, fire or thumping
You seem not satisfied, living with the remnants by the side
With bruising summers, shivering winters or raining cats and dogs
Each of the fake angels survived on the profit
You suffered and no one noticed
Dusk to dawn, you knew them for real
Now you can’t call them for your bail
Do not be wedded to fear and misery
Lift your eyes and your dignity
The day is breaking for you
You have the courage
Rise up, hope and work for yourself again.
Bio:
Neha Basnet is a graduate from the International Institute of Social Studies at Erasmus University, The Netherlands. She writes about development, child rights, and youth.
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