A Thousand Deaths (Satis Shroff, Freiburg)

Nepalese metaphors: Satis Shroff writes political poetry: about the war in Nepal, the sad fate of the Nepalese people, the emergence of neo-fascism in Germany. His bicultural perspective makes his poems rich, full of awe and at the same time heartbreakingly sad. In writing ‘home,’ he not only returns to his country of origin time and again, he also carries the fate of his people to readers in the West, and his task of writing is a very important one in political terms. His true gift is to invent Nepalese metaphors and make them accessible to the West through his poetry.

A THOUSAND DEATHS (Satis Shroff)

It breaks my heart, as I hear over the radio:

Nepal’s not safe for visitors.

Visitors who leave their money behind,

In the pockets of travel agencies, rug dealers,

Currency and drug dealers,

And hordes of ill-paid honest Sherpas

And Tamang and other ethnic porters.

Sweat beads trickling from their sun-burnt faces,

In the dizzy heights of the Dolpo, Annapurna ranges

And the Khumbu glaciers.

Eking out a living and facing the treacherous