In Remembrance: K Za Win – Poet

Dear Father,
the River, whose stomach
was cut open,
has declared war
on our tiny house on the bank, hasn’t she?
Right in front of the house
you must be looking out for someone
who will help you with
embankment poles
to straighten the river,
to fill her holes with
sandbags.
The poem moves from the picture of life at home to much wider themes about authoritarian power structures, corruption and inequality.
A thief is
unarmed.
A thug is
armed to the teeth.
If thieves are ungovernable,
if thugs are ungovernable,
what’s the point of government?
Whatever happens to the jungles
whatever happens to the mountains
whatever happens to the rivers
they don’t care.
They love the country
just the way they love to grate a coconut,
from inside out,
for coconut milk.
It was signed:
Yours ever,
K Za Win
Cell 1, Section 10
Thayawaddy Prison
read more on Vice Link: https://www.vice.com/en/article/xgzj94/poets-are-among-the-martyrs-in-myanmar-coup-protests
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