CN Gautam

Translated from Nepali by Hem Bishwakarma

As you transform into ashes

as you are washed

out from the funeral pyre

go, just along the river

don’t get swerved from

– the wail of your relatives

– the cascade of tears

go, on the way you go

meet at the resting place

when you reach

go from the caress of your mother

with the broad chest of your father

with the burbling of the stream

with the prayer of God

go, removing,

the stones and the obstacles

be an eternal traveller and go

sprinkling the holy water

the incense, the lamps, the flowers

sandalwood paste  and Akshata

Go and mingle with Holy Ocean

and, rest as a cloud

in the holy Sky!

…

CN Gautam is a poet, lyricist and professionally a teacher. Long served as a radio program producer and presenter, he has a song recorded and many poems and articles published in the local newspapers to his credit.