Sabaydii,

 

Here is the continuation of a series ‘Coming home’ entitled ‘a walk in the rain’

 

Hakphaang,

 

 

 

Been to Vientiane for quite some time

The rain hadn’t glazed the sky yet

 

Or the rain season was over

I wasn’t sure

Too long an absence from Muang Lao

I didn’t remember the rain cycle

In the country any more

 

With jean, light shirt and tennis shoes on

I took off to the Mekong

Wanting to see

Wanting to feel

What it was like

To walk barefoot in the Mekong

The river of Muang Lao

The very lifeblood of the country

 

Half way through

Dark clouds began to form

And out of nowhere

Drops of rain tumbling down

From the grim sky

 

I saw pedestrians made a dash move

To the buildings by the roadside

I alone

For some unknown reasons

Walked on

 

Maybe it was the rain

Lao rain

Caught me under its spell

See how it fell on my face

Bare arms and neck

 

Nowhere on earth

Where the rain was this magical

This trance-like effect

But in the country of my ancestors

 

Each drop falling on my skin

Reminding me of the days

I ran wild with only a short on

Greeting the rain

Greeting what life may bring

 

Or maybe it was just

To be alive

The realization I had experienced for so long

I don’t know

 

Whatever it is

I let myself be one with the rain

Soaking myself through

With all its hopes

Its dreams

And its worries

 

 

When I reached the bank of the Mekong

No one but me stood looking

At the swift current flowing by

 

With my shoes put aside

I waded into the river

Scooped it up in my hands

And washed my face with this holy water

 

Let the rain

Let the Mekong

Wipe away scars in my heart

 

If this life has to be cut short

Let it be known

I love this land more than life itself

And if my kids have to wade in her again

Let them know

Their dad is of this river

 

Let you touch their hearts

For all my dreams

Your dreams

Live in here

The way my dad’s dreams lived in me

And his dad in him

All the way down

To our great great-ancestors

 

9.26.03