Battle

Dr. Bishnu Bibhu Ghimire

Poet Dr. Bishnu Bibhu Ghimire

They say an army wins a battle!
But O! where does it win a battle?
But O! where does it win devotion?
But O! where does it win faith?
Oh you are idiots who claim
that an army wins a battle.
The army only wins widows,
the army only wins orphans,
the army only wins a destitute
and the army is always defeated
inside the country.

When those who were sleeping,
wake up abruptly;
the gun also looses,
the bullet shies away,
the wars cease.

No, I do not believe it at all,
that a gun kills an alive person.
Indeed it kills only those who are asleep,
It can only kill the slaves,
It can only deceive those
who have not been able to wake up.
When those who have been sleeping, plunge up
The army has to lose the war,
in their own country.

Translated from Nepali by Dr. Tara Nath Sharma

(Courtesy: Himalayan Soul)