Translated from the Nepali to the English by Prakash Subedi
One needs the newest thing

to kill the most ancient man on earth
What thing of that kind

do you have left?
An amended democracy?

A republic?
Sophisticated guns

tanks, missiles, rocket-launchers

or

biological weapons

or

an international anthem?
You burned down his house

and with it

burned his children

his wife, brothers and relatives

the bhangra, bhoto and gado

bakkhu, dhoti and hakupatasi

that he wore were burned

but why didn’t he burn

do you know?
You called him a terrorist

a government spy

your extreme torture

severed his humble hands

plucked out his innocent eyes and tongue

hacked off his neck and legs

you pierced his earth-like heart

with your bayonet

and roared in victory

but why didn’t he die

do you know?
One needs the newest thing

to kill the most ancient man on earth
What thing of that kind 

do you have left?
Language?

Relgion?
Caste

culture, tribe, nationality

or

human rights?

or

Supreme America?
What thing of that sort

do you have left

that 

can wipe out the most ancient man on this earth?

Can you

wipe out the smell of paddy from the fields?

Can you

wipe out the smell of the wind in the hills?

Can you 

wipe out the smell of water from the sea?
What thing of that kind

do you still have left?

Tell me! What do you have

that can

wipe out the brown smell of sweat from this earth?