Time

Jaya Rai

Time is shedding itself
In layers upon the leaves of trees:
Maple, chestnut, cherry, oak.
Oak, cherry, chestnut, maple:
In layers and layers. 

Colourful leaves
Settle in the park, on the road and courtyard
Stripping the youthful tree naked,
The weight of the pain
Upon the tree,
Decaying leaves settle in layers. 

Stripped
Beside the road, in the yard
And in the parks. 
Lying low to the ground
And forced into layers 
Are the mound of time
And frozen youthfulness. 
Stripped naked,
Standing on her own,
The tree waves 
Her hands in the wind,
Looks at the far end
Of the shameless road
Challenges
The snow,
The sleet,
The mist
Each of them
Lick dust. 

The naked tree,
the naked form,
an undeniable nakedness. 
Time
segmented in layers,
each moment
rests on the leaves of the trees.
Time is flowering 
making layers of petals 
in Baghdad, Kandahar and Karachi. 
In poppy flowers 
Being naked, naked
In layers and layers. 

Translated from Nepali by: Mukul Dahal