Sabaydii,

 

Here is the continuation of a series ‘Coming home’ entitled ‘Euay Mayoury – no less than the song’

 

Hakphaang,

 

 

The other day

I went to see Dr. Mayoury Ngaosyvath

Or I would call her

Euay Mayoury instead

 

She was the co-author with her husband

Of the groundbreaking works

On Chao Anou[1]

I much admired

 

 

With only the information

She lived somewhere

Near Wat Mixay[2]

I took off

Asked around

And with some luck

I ran across her place

 

 

Exactly at the corner

Of Wat Mixay

Where the two giant Yak[3]

Guarding the temple

Stood her apartment

Of three stories high

 

Checking at the gate

Locked was it

An unusual thing indeed

Later to be known

She was hardly home

 

Besides

She lived alone

Her husband Ai Pheuiphanh[4]

Attending the conference in Bangkok

And her two young sons

Off to study in Switzerland

 

Hanging around

With the kind neighbor

Offering me a seat and a cold drink

 

I recalled

Once being around this area

Not far from here

Stood Dr. Koukeo Saycocie’s house

The head of the Red Cross

Where my dad and I once came to stay with

During That Luang festival

 

Being from Thakek

To Vientiane for the first time in the late 60s

And stayed in his cozy house

I was even afraid

To walk on his shiny wood floor

 

Hard to believe

Over 30 years had passed

 

Been told

Paa[5] ViengXay

Dr. Koukeo’s eldest daughter

Who lived there before

Moved out after the passing away of her husband

So the most I could see

Was the contour of the house

 

Couldn’t help to recall

The image I stood with the bicycle

And Dr. Koukeo’s granddaughter beside

 

 

Now she must have been doing well

With an advanced degree from abroad

A very little girl I once math tutored

In her last year of high school

 

If only the blossoming Champa[6] tree could tell

I was here but no one home

Only the silent wind

Greeted me

Embraced me

 

Only when the sun set

Did Euay Mayoury emerged from a car

Dropped by her friend

On the way home

 

Not to startle her

I just softly called out her name

Still she was quite taken by my sight

In this wee hour

 

Only after judging for herself

What kind a person I was

Did she relax

And invited me in

 

As soon as a conversation began

We suddenly struck a chord of lasting friendship

Only friends of so long could come

This close

 

From her

I came to know

What it meant to love your country that deeply

Though painful to see all your sacrifice

Came to virtually nothing

 

 

Was told

She and her husband

Advanced degrees from the prestigious French university

Opted to come back home

And help with the law they so hard mastered

With the way of the modern world they took for granted

And with the future of the country

They had so much faith in

 

At last

That was they thought

A new regime incorruptible

A government for all people

And a vision beautiful enough

Muang Lao could depend on

 

Hard to believe

Those dreams were so soon dashed

Like a destined-to-fail crusade

This couple was still here

Not golfing like other so-called leaders of the country

Not widening their pie at the expense of the many

And not kowtowing to the Thai royalty

So much in fad with the leadership circle

 

When I last left her

After hours of hours of conversation

And days after days of meeting

I felt Muang Lao would be in a better hand

With people as committed as her

 

Will I live to see that day

Or is it already too late?

Tell me

 

9.5.03

 

Notes

Ai Pheuiphanh wrote a song ‘Mayoury’ and had it recorded by Ai Voradeth. This song is one of the songs I love the most.