“Ode to January” by Arun Budhathoki
Poetry Pause is the League of Canadian Poets’ daily poetry dispatch. Read “Ode to January” by Arun Budhathoki, part of the League’s Fresh Voices program.
Ode to January
By Arun Budhathoki
If I’m destined to live away
from my motherland
Is my heart colder than
the squeaky snows
of metallic Edmonton?
My heart shakes
Every night
Imitates the unknown train’s murmurs
My mind circles the city,
questioning if I belong here.
Copyright ยฉ Arun Budhathoki
Arun Budhathoki is a poet, writer, and translator whose work moves across migration, identity, and the friction of belonging in unfamiliar landscapes. Born in Nepal and now based in Edmonton, Alberta, he is the author of two poetry collections: Prisoner of an iPad: New Poems (2014) and And I Blamed Canadian Winter Again: Poems East & West (Nirala Publications, 2025). His poems have appeared in international literary journals and earned him an invitation as a guest author at the Sharjah International Book Fair (2015).
As a translator, Arun has extended his literary reach across languages, most notably with Shramatan: A Nepalese Migrant Worker’s Memoir (2023), a rendering of a Nepali novel into English that brings an underrepresented voice to a wider readership.
He is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Kathmandu Tribune, a bilingual English/Nepali literary journal bridging Nepal’s literary community with international readers.
Fresh Voices is a publication and workshop program created by and for the League’s associate members, curated and edited by Erin Vance.
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