Kaung--Poem--Bama Pyay taw, yay set cha like-taw--As for Burma, pour the water of donation --you might as well

cut your ties with it

forever.

What you thought of as

your homeland

Is not your home anymore

nor is it your land.

Your earth is in some 20 flower pots

your home is your 750 sqaure foot condo

your memories are in your head, which has

increasing grey matter

helped along by B 12 and D3

no pret has so far jumped down your throat

as you fell asleep under a banyan tree

Your ideal lover and life partner

Is waiting for you

Every night in your unmade bed

between the covers

Of books you wrote yourself

variously named, Gregory

Aditya, Jason, maybe Aiden, upcoming

Luke?

For surnames, I look at maps.

Kronstadt is one.

I no longer feel like speaking or reading Burmese

let alone writing

the way I don't like gems

mined with

so much blood.

Kyi May Kaung

11-24-2024

Blood on Stairs--stock photo.

Shwedagone Pagoda and "Older Brother"--scale model built before. *