Captivity of the night by Sushant Thapa

Sushant Thapa (26 Feb, 1993) holds a Master’s degree in English Literature from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. He is a Nepalese poet from Biratnagar, Nepal, and is the author of two poetry collections, “The Poetic Burden and Other Poems” published by Authorspress, New Delhi, India, in 2020 and "Abstraction and Other Poems" published by Impspired in 2021 from England. His English poems are featured in Trouvaille Review, Litehouse Exophonic Magazine (Portugal), International Times (United Kingdom), New York Parrot (New York, USA), My Republica (Kathmandu, Nepal), The Kathmandu Post (Kathmandu, Nepal), Sahitto Bilingual Literary Magazine (Bangladesh), Indian Periodical (India), Ponder Savant (California, USA), Grey Thoughts (New Jersey, USA), The Gorkha Times (Kathmandu, Nepal), The Piker Press (USA), Lothlorien Poetry Journal (France), Offline Thinker (Kathmandu, Nepal), Sahitya Post (Kathmandu, Nepal), Atunis Poetry (Belgium), EKL Review (India), Harbinger Asylum (USA), Dumpster Fire Press (USA), Impspired Magazine (UK), Sindh Courier (Pakistan), Aksharang (Lalitpur, Nepal), Kabita Minar (Odisha, India), Suryodaya Literary Foundation (India), Visible Magazine, WILLIWASH (Nigeria), The Beatnik Cowboy (South Dakota, USA), Literary Yard, Synchronized Chaos Journal (San Lorenzo, California, USA), Vscorpiozine’s Blog (USA), Medusa's Kitchen and As It Ought To Be Magazine (USA). Four English poems written by Sushant have been translated into Uzbek (the language of Uzbekistan) and published in the online literary magazine, Nodirabegim of Uzbekistan. He has also been anthologized in three English poetry collections, entitled Pandemic Poetry 2020 and An Anthology of Poetry for Children. One of Sushant’s poems has appeared in The Literary Parrot Anthology published by Transcendent Zero Press and New York Parrot, New York, USA. One of his poems, entitled “Festivities”, has been included in schoolbook used to teach English to Grade 6 students in Nepal. Sushant has also written and published Flash Fictions and Short stories from Kitaab and Borderless Journal, Singapore. His three poems were translated in Latin American Spanish Language and published in the Magazine Trinando of Mexico. Sushant is currently working on his first Novel. 

Captivity of the night 

The night is warm 

There is no release from its depth. 

The night is dark 

There is no space of its weakness. 

Stars seem to be awake and 

You cannot say they are nocturnal. 

I wake up to rise from my dreams 

With the aim to bolden my present. 

Yesterday, I was asking like a child 

Today, I am still learning to choose 

And be myself. 

Someday, you shall see me 

Choosing wisely between

The chase of fame and the beautiful essence of time. 

You have taught me to wait, I have learned

To control my mind. 

Night is not devoid of voice 

Its tone is silent. 

The skin of night is 

The cloth of measureless time

When I find myself wrapped by it,  

But I speak not of the devil 

I only proclaim the captivity of the night.