Two Poems by Kuma Raj Subedi

Quarantined Waltz

Without communication 

In severe isolation 

New buds continuously try to sprout 

Clouds block light

Pale they look 

Under lockdown condition 

Unfair restrictions impose 

Scars on larval emotions 

Phew…

Grief-infected souls groan masking 

For a clean sweep 

For a new sanitized realm 

Where they 

Can waltz in reality.

□

Barbie in Reverse 

In a pink dream world

when everyone sleeps

a self-proclaimed full-size barbie

dreams of becoming a mother.

Her man does it all for her-

washes  her clothes,

massages her to tone up her skin,

serves  food on the table,

does the dishes

watches as she feeds the baby formula

–as breastfeeding might harm a slim body—

and washing might crack delicate skin.

She needs massage to send her to sleep,

without him she wouldn’t eat.

When she wakes up,

she sees a muscular man

riding an Andalusian stallion

and succumbs to the majestic grandeur.

□

© Kuma Raj Subedi 

Australia 

subedi.kamal@gmail.com

Kuma Raj Subedi was born in the Parbat district in Nepal. He has got two postgraduate degrees :MA in British & American literature, and Master of Teaching in TESOL. As a poet and translator his numerous creations have been published on various print and online platforms such as Misty Mountain Review, Spill words, Indian Review, Muse India, Polis Magazino, Kavya Kishor, Aksharang, Sipay, The Gorkha Times, Of Nepalese Clay, Sindh Courier,  Newsn Jeju, Ink Pantry, The Indian Periodical, Nepalnamcha, Poetishes, The Offline Thinker, Setopati, Poeticia, The Rising Junkiri, Sahitya Sangraha, Modern Poets Anthology (Ukiyoto Publishing), The Writer’s Cafe etc.Recently he participated in KM100NZ haiku competition in New Zealand and Joy to the world poetry festival. He is anctiv involved to TramsEnd Poets, a group of prominent poets and critics in Adelaide. He often writes about issues such as women’s suffering, memories, religion, nature, migration, love and culture. Currently, Mr. Subedi is residing in Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia with his two daughters and wife and works as an accomplished lecturer at TafeSA. He has been awarded as the Best Poet of the Event in the International Nazarul Poetry Festival 2023 in Bangladesh. He has been exclusively interviewed in MTV in Nepal. He has also been interviewed in a literary program by Kalika FM and Vijaya FM about his creative writings and current literary trends and styles. He has been interviewed and got published in Kayakairan Daily. Three book reviews on his debut anthology of poetry have been published in The Rising Nepal, a leading and the oldest English newspaper in Nepal and in Sahitya Post, a full time literary digital magazine in Nepal.