Sabaydii,

 

Here is the continuation of a series ‘Coming home’ entitled ‘A farewell to Thakek’

 

Hakphaang,

 

 

Finally we said goodbye to Thakek

A town I would rightly call home

Too bad we got to leave

Not seeing that much of it

On our parting day

Maybe a good sign was in the air

We passed through the road

Cutting through my old school

And four or five schools

On this single road

 

 

Everywhere I saw

Half a mile indeed

A procession of kids in student uniform

Crowded the whole road

Playing with the umbrella

In a light rain

Teasing laughing

 

One day

Hope I was right

These kids would lead Thakek

Would lead Muang Lao

Out of the conundrum

We put ourselves into

 

 

Thakek

How could I forget?

A town so peaceful

A people so friendly

And a legacy so lasting

 

Not a time this town forgets

Chao Souphanouvong[1]

A bright hope for Muang Lao

Fighting against the French

Almost lost his life

Crossing the Mekong

 

If only we have the thousands of him

No task was insurmountable

With a leader like him

We will rise up again as one

 

Thakek

How much I love to be back

Will it be that day?

Will my teacher once predicted

I would amount to something big

At last materialized?

And will I have a chance

To put my dad’s ashes

In his beloved town?

 

 

Slowly

I glanced a last look at Thakek

A friendly transit

Where people moved on

To a better place

A better life

Will I do the same?

Or is there enough Thakek blood

Still left in me?

 

Like a railroad that never built

But only a track left

This train won’t run its course

Until it runs on Thakek soil

Some day somehow…

 

8.26.03