Artist and Poet: Meet Krishna

Pagal

Oh yes, friend!
I am crazy
That’s just the way I am
I see sounds,
I hear sights
I taste smells
I touch not heaven but things from the underworld
Things people do not believe exist
Whose shapes the world does not suspect
Stones, I see as flowers.
Lying water-smoothed by the water’s edge
Rocks of tender forms in the moonlight
When the heavenly Sorceress smiles at me
Putting out leaves, softening, glistening, throbbing.
They rise up like mute maniacs, like flowers,
a king of moon-bird’s flowers
I talk to them the way they talk to me
A language, friends,
That can’t be written or printed or spoken
Can’t be understood, can’t be heard
Their language comes in ripples to the moonlit Ganges banks
Ripple by ripple
Oh yes, friend! I am crazy.
That’s just the way I am.

Pagal was originally printed in The Journey Home by Sheryl Rajbhandari.

About Krishna Ghimire
Originally from Bhutan, Krishna arrived to Cincinnati in 2008 after spending years in a refugee camp in Nepal following an ethnic cleansing in Bhutan in the early 1980s. Ghimire immediately began to study English. As a single mother, she has assisted with helping new arrivals understand how to take care of their homes, helped with fundraising by knitting items to sell, and led cooking for fundraisers. She also works in the community garden and participates in sewing classes. She passed her citizenship test and now teaches citizenship to other refugees. She is often recognized for being a great role model, mother, sister, and friend. Krishna is also a recipient of the Heartfelt Tidbits Citizen Award.