We’re at the bottom
and we may never reach the top
but we’re still very rigid and strong.
They’re at their peak but they look
very wobbly and nervous.
We don’t know why they’re scared
of ordinary people like us.
We may not be ordinary after all.
We can convey peace
and social justice to all.
Yes, we can!
We’re not jerks.
A haunting portrait of nationalism
and religious royalty emerges
all over the world.
What’s going on?
People who’ve different religions
than ours are religious too.
People who’ve different opinions
than ours are compassionate too.
People born on the other side
of the border are our
brothers and sisters too.
Insensitivity, a new culture,
and it hurt to see how easily
we are getting used to it.
The roads are crumbling
and so is our kindness.
It’s time to mend the roads.
It’s time to open all the doors.
Bhuwan Thapaliya
Brief Bio:
Bhuwan Thapaliya is a poet writing in English from Kathmandu, Nepal. He works as an economist and is the author of four poetry collections. His poems have been published in Pendemics Literary Journal, International Times, Trouvaille Review, Life in Quarantine: Witnessing Global Pandemic Initiative(Witnessing Global Pandemic is an initiative sponsored by the Poetic Media Lab and the Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis at Stanford University), International Human Rights Art Festival, Poetry and Covid: A Project funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council, University of Plymouth, and Nottingham Trent University, Pandemic Magazine, The Poet, Valient Scribe, Strong Verse, Jerry Jazz Musician, VOICES( Education Project), Longfellow Literary Project, Poets Against the War among many others.