The following is the next installment in our 'Poetry of Nepal's Revolution' series. We want to continue to share some of the poetry which has been inspired by and helped inspire the revolution unfolding in Nepal. The following is a poem by Dil Sahni, coordinator of the M.A. English Department at Butwal Multiple Campus, Nepal. Dil Sahni is a renowned writer, professor, and Maoist sympathizer.
We will be posting a running series of these over the coming days. Stay tuned.
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| "What your were in the past, Comrade, you are not in the present" |
Comrade
Comrade!
When you were in the street
You spoke revolution
Comrade!
When you were in the slums
You spoke liberation
Comrade!
When you were with the people
Like the fish in the water
You spoke Marxism
You spoke Leninism
You spoke Maoism
You spoke so much
Socialism and Communism
And what not
But now Comrade!
When you are in the chair
You do not hear
What the street would say to you
But now Comrade
When you are in your heavenly kingdom
You do not visit the slums
Even just to confirm
Whether they are happily dead
Or still alive
But now Comrade!
When you are in the palace
You do not face the people
even just to ascertain
What complaints they would make
Frankly speaking
If you don't mind
What you were in the past Comrade
You are not in the present
You are wonderfully changed
When nothing is changed
with your kind permission
May I ask you the crux of the question
O Comrade!
Are you still a Comrade
Or everything
Except a Comrade.