Zeal
What’s your age?
she asked.
Do not believe the grey hairs,
I humbly replied.
New Social Etiquette
I
d i s e n g a g e
(myself)
from the SOCIETY
to be engaged on
a( )social site(s).
Death Note of a Maniac
A tree fell
And became a log.
The time the tree lived ceased abruptly
And became history.
Men exhumed the history
And recreated memories.
They again carved those memories on the log
And made new expressions of life.
Outside the window, there are no trees left now!
Wonders of a Leaf
Lying in bed
I dream of a caterpillar.
The caterpillar stops a while,
Dreams of a leaf
and resumes!
I lie, while
the caterpillar soothes me,
crawls upon me
and excites me with its
innumerable hands and feet.
Belly upon the belly,
caterpillar and me –
intoxicated,
we live a complete dream.
The caterpillar –
touches me,
gets aroused,
squeezes and sucks me,
and, transforms itself into a butterfly.
I, too, dream,
get excited with the touch,
and offer myself to be eaten up;
But, left with a mystic of life
I dream and wonder:
if the butterfly is my love,
my ultimate dream.
Author's Bionote:
*Keshab Sigdel (1979) is a Nepali poet, editor, academic and rights activist. He is the author of “Samaya Bighatan” ('Dissolution of Time', 2007), “Colour of the Sun” (Poesis, 2017) and Embargo (French translation by Alexandra Crette; 2025). He has edited “Madness: An anthology of world poetry” (RedPanda Books, 2023) featuring 297 poets from 101 countries/territories. He also edited a volume of Nepali poetry, “An Anthology of Contemporary Nepali Poetry” (Big Bridge, 2016). His recent work of translation “Shades of Color” (Nepal Academy, 2021), is a collection of indigenous Nepali poetry. Besides poetry, he also writes fiction, literary essays and plays. He served as the Editor-in-chief of “Poetry Planetariat”, a global poetry magazine published by World Poetry Movement. He also co-edited “Of Nepalese Clay”, literary journal of the Society of Nepali Writers in English and “Rupantaran”, a journal of translation published by Nepal Academy. Sigdel teaches Poetry and Literary Theories and Criticism at Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu.
she asked.
Do not believe the grey hairs,
I humbly replied.
New Social Etiquette
I
d i s e n g a g e
(myself)
from the SOCIETY
to be engaged on
a( )social site(s).
Death Note of a Maniac
A tree fell
And became a log.
The time the tree lived ceased abruptly
And became history.
Men exhumed the history
And recreated memories.
They again carved those memories on the log
And made new expressions of life.
Outside the window, there are no trees left now!
Wonders of a Leaf
Lying in bed
I dream of a caterpillar.
The caterpillar stops a while,
Dreams of a leaf
and resumes!
I lie, while
the caterpillar soothes me,
crawls upon me
and excites me with its
innumerable hands and feet.
Belly upon the belly,
caterpillar and me –
intoxicated,
we live a complete dream.
The caterpillar –
touches me,
gets aroused,
squeezes and sucks me,
and, transforms itself into a butterfly.
I, too, dream,
get excited with the touch,
and offer myself to be eaten up;
But, left with a mystic of life
I dream and wonder:
if the butterfly is my love,
my ultimate dream.
Author's Bionote:
*Keshab Sigdel (1979) is a Nepali poet, editor, academic and rights activist. He is the author of “Samaya Bighatan” ('Dissolution of Time', 2007), “Colour of the Sun” (Poesis, 2017) and Embargo (French translation by Alexandra Crette; 2025). He has edited “Madness: An anthology of world poetry” (RedPanda Books, 2023) featuring 297 poets from 101 countries/territories. He also edited a volume of Nepali poetry, “An Anthology of Contemporary Nepali Poetry” (Big Bridge, 2016). His recent work of translation “Shades of Color” (Nepal Academy, 2021), is a collection of indigenous Nepali poetry. Besides poetry, he also writes fiction, literary essays and plays. He served as the Editor-in-chief of “Poetry Planetariat”, a global poetry magazine published by World Poetry Movement. He also co-edited “Of Nepalese Clay”, literary journal of the Society of Nepali Writers in English and “Rupantaran”, a journal of translation published by Nepal Academy. Sigdel teaches Poetry and Literary Theories and Criticism at Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu.