WASO LAPYAE
This morning
Waso Lapyae
Brings blue skies
And a giant crow
Perched upon the sill
Of my squat toilet window
This afternoon
The heavy rain
Gives me a headache
Again
Neither jasmine tea
Nor red wine help
This evening
I am drunk once more
Like a lunatic,
I pace the parket floor
Reciting poems by Li Bai
Yes
Tonight
We’ll sit in silence
The full moon and me
Until only dawn remains
BETEL NUT STAINS
They’ve found a bomb
At Shwe Dagon
They say
They say
Beer station Jihad
Fueled by
Cheap whisky and soda
More talk –
More enemies
Blood red betel nut stains
STAINED BUS WINDOW
January
Turns to December
A little quicker every year
Yesterday’s
Quiet countryside
Turns into the chatter
Of today’s villages
Then on to tomorrow’s
Overcrowded towns and cities
Things that once were
No longer appear
Time has taken them back
From these red eyes that linger
On their lined reflection
In the stained bus window
No
Not so young now
Are you boy?
Not so quick on our feet
As you used to be
So
Tell me son
What have you learned?
Drunk and alone
Who is your song for?
Caught between
The then of there
And the now of here
I have no idea
All I feel in the seat
Of this dusty heart is
Longing
Longing
Longing
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