Sabaydii,

 

Here is the continuation of a series ‘Coming home’ entitled ‘Talking to a monk’

 

Hakphaang,

 

 

One of the things I would like to do

While still in Muang Lao

Was to talk to monks

See how they fared in the new Laos

 

That afternoon

I got a chance

Walking was what I did

To Wat OngTu

More colorful than ever

With a Thai style glittering

 

 

Later known

The Thai poured in money

Heavily in this temple

Nobody knew why

 

Or maybe

This temple was where the old regime

Swore its officials

A reminder of the past

Where the Thai influence was

So unmistakable

 

With a heavy heart

Seeing what the Siamese could do

I strode into the temple compound

And let the bitter past envelop me

 

I remembered

Back in the old regime

At the entrance of the temple

Seeing two unmovable guards

Standing there

Hands clutching the rifles

 

Inside

Lied the casket of my brother-in-law

Prematurely cut short

When his T-28 fighter plane

Crashed on the way back home

 

Life

No one could tell

When it would be the last breath

Seeing you one day

And the next you were gone

 

With my hands joined together

In the traditional gesture of Wai[1]

I prayed for his soul and all Lao souls

Never again would we die

Fighting in the useless war

 

Didn’t know

How long I was in the reverie

When I opened my eyes

A pair of gentle eyes was watching me

 

 

They were from a kind-looking monk

Witnessing the many twists and turns of life

Mine was no less strange

 

With calmness in his voice

The monk asked me

How I was doing

And if I needed a glass of water

 

Answering in a negative

I told him

Uncharacteristic of me

How we as a people had suffered

Turmoil after turmoil

War after war

When peace finally arrived

It was worse than ever

 

A tenth of the population left the country

Even the cruel Siamese didn’t come that close

To what we did to ourselves

 

The monk looked at me

See how devastated I was

He just said

This like all things would pass

With the passage of time

Nothing would stay forever

 

Just don’t harbor any hatred

Any ill will

A brighter day of Muang Lao

Will sure come

 

Then he told a story

How Wat OngTu was ravaged

At the hand of the Siamese

Leaving only the big statue

Stood against the test of time

 

Not sure

What got into me

His words poured forth like a solace

For a dying man

Trying to cling on to anything

Of hope of life

 

With my head bowed again

This time to a monk

A follower of Buddha

I took off

And let my prepared question

Vanish into the thin air

 

What else do I need now?

But hope for the future

And trust in ourselves

One day our turn will come

 

9.22.03