In My Lover's Wonder Wood

In My Lover's Wonder Wood

In your wonder wood
Blue birds sip nectar to booze
White roses exude fragrance for food
Yellow withered leaves fall for butterflies to suit
Springs and streams begin singing their routes
Beautiful nymph flashes her eyelashes so good
Learned wizard starts his craft for coup
You succeed in whatever you wish to scoop.

In your realm, darling
"Come live with me and dream"
You mumbled continuously it seems
That I heard clearly, but through seduction
Misfortune carried me to another direction
I was thus thrown into a far location
I spent there for several seasons.

In your wood retreat
Quiet and peaceful I wish to live
But I lost my way and failed to proceed
I felt tired and shed tears in grief
"Don't stay, follow me", it repeats
I heard again imperceptibly, indeed.

With strong attachments in this life
As a visitor I don't enjoy and like
Remorse made me tired and weak forever
Still in the wrong way gossiped and censured
"In your wonder wood
Blue birds sip nectar to booze
White roses exude fragrance for food
Yellow withered leaves fall for butterflies to suit
Springs and streams sing to begin their routes
Beautiful nymph flashes her eyelashes so good
Learned wizard starts his craft for coup
You succeed in whatever you wish to scoop",
Don't I know the truth?

Kyi Aye (1973 Shumawa magazine, February)
Translation Dr Maung Maung Nyo (27.4.2007)

Myanmar New Year Wish

Myanmar New Year Wish

When the Padauk flowers bloom this Tagu
I wish a happy new year to all of you
With Thingyan water festival duly gone
May all the evils and wrong doings too.

Let you and your family can enjoy life
Without any fight, stress and strife
May the Burmese people also have the rights
To live like human beings as other tribes.

Let our children be proud of Burma
Once proud and prosperous with power
A nation of history, heroes and culture
It's a matter of time to regain the splendour
If they would unite and endevour for democracy
And nothing will be achieved by complacency!

Dr. Maung Maung Nyo (13.4.2007)

Thingyan And New Year

Thingyan And New Year

My heart leaps up when I hear thingyan
It was like this when I was six and
It is the same when I'm again seventy
My heart stays this way for eternity.

My mind goes back to younger days in Myanmar
Where we throw water shouting Thangyats and wander
Plucking Padauk flowers for buddha and ladies
Eating floating rice balls and Thingyan delicacies.

Now few burmese people can play it
Due to meagre water and electric supply
Honestly i like to cry
What happen to the off-shore gas and oil we find?

Thingyan is a merry occasion for the Burmese
But it's also sacred for the religious creeds
They go to pagodas and monks for peace
Let there be means and ends to meet.

May this thingyan be merry and peaceful;
May the coming new year be big and beautiful,
For all of you!

Dr. Maung Maung Nyo (13.4.2007)

Wait for me, Darling

Wait for me, Darling
(Saungt khaw pa Maung)

Look here, Darling
Blue lush grass and white soft sand smothering
Thinly over the tiny winding path.

I felt weak while walking
Afraid and fatigued for almost crying
Tried smiling but weakened and worn out
Can’t catch up mate, make about turn there
Turn now here and walk running thee
Please support me.

Buds of leaves abound
Old leaves shriveled fall sleeping on the ground
Male bird singing softly sweet song
On the bough under which I stoop around
Blue sky and scorching sun all along
Summer flower and gale gone swerving
I sense early summer is coming.

New leaves sprouting
Bushy path blocked by green leaves
Feeling the tendrils unseen
Clouds and lightning flashing
Storms breaking branches and boughs
Sharp shooting silvery arrows
Of strong rains and downpours I behold.

Hanging heavy clouds hovering
Cool northerly wind with mist blocking
Towering tops of trees brown and blurring
Flower at the top brought by winter wind
Its fragrance I alone smelling
Soaked and shivering with snow dusts
Covering the path I just past.

Give me your hand, Darling
Soft tender and warm you render me
I jump with joy to walk with thee
Hand in hand we two in strengthened spree
On narrow sandy path we agree
Singing loudly as we feel free
Cold sweet tears pour on me out of joy
To the end of this path until we die
Please support and wait for me, Darling mine!

Kyi Aye (1949, Shumawa magazine, May)
Translation Dr Maung Maung Nyo (25.4.2007)

Crabby Old Woman

Crabby Old Woman

What do you see, nurses
What do you see?
What are you thinking
When you're looking at me?

A crabby old woman
Not very wise,
Uncertain of habit,
With faraway eyes?

Who dribbles her food
And makes no reply.
When you say in a loud voice,
"I do wish you'd try!"

Who seems not to notice
The things that you do,
And forever is losing
A stocking or shoe?

Who, resisting or not
Lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding
The long day to fill?

Is that what you're thinking?
Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse,
You're not looking at me.

I'll tell you who I am
As I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding,
As I eat at your will.


I'm a small child of ten
With a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters
Who love one another.

A young girl of sixteen
With wings on her feet
Dreaming that soon now
A lover she'll meet.

A bride soon at twenty,
My heart gives a leap,
Remembering the vows
That I promised to keep.

At twenty-five now,
I have young of my own,
Who need me to guide
And a secure happy home.

A woman of thirty,
My young now grown fast,
Bound to each other
With ties that should last.

At forty, my young sons
Have grown and are gone,
But my man's beside me
To see I don't mourn.

At fifty once more,
Babies play round my knee,
Again we know children,
My loved one and me.

Dark days are upon me
My husband is dead,
I look at the future
I shudder with dread.

For my young are all rearing
Young of their own,
And I think of the years
And the love that I've known.

I'm now an old woman
And nature is cruel;
Tis jest to make old age
Look like a fool.


The body, it crumbles,
Grace and vigour depart,
There is now a stone
Where I once had a heart.

But inside this old carcass
A young girl still dwells,
And now and again,
My battered heart swells.

I remember the joys,
I remember the pain,
And I'm loving and living
Life over again.

I think of the years
All too few, gone too fast,
And accept the stark fact
That nothing can last.

So open your eyes, people,
Open and see,
Not a crabby old woman;
Look closer....see ME!!

Anonymous Poet

Two Royal White Orchids

Two Royal White Orchids
(thazin hna khet)

A lady friend of mine in Kyaikhto
Sends me a special gift solo
As a mark of her friendship
Clipped from the heights of tallest trees
That is two white orchid flowers for me.

“Oh, so beautiful”, I murmur
Those clean lilywhite flowers
Closely set with poetic posture
And green emerald stalk so tender
Those silvery white flowers seem teasing
Captivating you in succession.

One orchid flower
I offer it with Cetana (good intention)
To Buddha image flower vase
Plant it there and serve homage
Another one I place it
On my head for grace and groom
Then, at night with the moon
I meet my lover in my bedroom
We become lovebirds very soon
Playing pretending bride and groom.

In the next morning
When sunbeam enters the window
I wake up and look to Buddha image patio
Saw with my own eyes so clearly
The orchid in the flower vase is
Still fresh, fragrant and frisky
Yet, that on my head is easily
Fallen on the bed sheet
Torn tattered and tweezed
Why was it so tweeze
Why to my flower please?

Dagon Taryar (Taryar magazine 1947)
Translation Dr Maung Maung Nyo (11.4.2007)

Deception

Deception
(htin mi hmar)

Early morning
my beloved informed me she's coming
I sat at the window, ornament of my dwelling
putting my hands to the chin and waited.

In my heart
I was anxious empty and exhausted
missing her longing her and tired
liked to weep and wail, but held on
with uncertain expectation.

Summer weather showed
brown golden old leaves
falling to the gentle ground whirling
shuffling shuttling and making noises
like those of my lover's, May's footsteps?

To the road head
turned my neck and looked at
suddenly the green dark woods had
flashed showing the flame tree flowers
bright red and brilliant altogether
clear, clean and shining there
"is it May's silk umbrella?"

Suddenly
dark clouds ran away
dusky blue brown grey colour too
as the sun appeared to brighten hue
"is it May's smile, true?"

Deceived
blurry and unfocused indeed
half giddy and half unconscious
waited weakly wearily and wondrously
but my beloved May was hard to come to me!

Dagon Taryar (Taryar magazine 1949)
Translation Dr Maung Maung Nyo

Self Banishment to the Meza

Self Banishment to the Meza
(mimi ko ko meza thoh poh chin)

Once in the Burmese history
The king was very angry
So, he issued an order without plea
For Poet Laureate Letwethondra
To be banished to Meza*

As for me
No body ordered it so
It’s just my wish and I go there
And live in the modern Meza.

This Meza is situated
Far away from any tar road head
Bounded by a field on one side
And a forest and mountain on the other side
Wide blue sky hovers right above
And green grass lands everywhere
In the lake water two suns reign
Pearl on rising and gold in evening
Sun disc moon disc sparkling in the lake
So are the glass blades and flakes
Thus a revolving kaleidoscope is made.

Stars moon and sun coexist
With earth shrubs sky trees and hills
Light and darkness are original
No cover or hiding intentional
Really simple and upright
All genuine inside
Thus nature is wise.

In one place
A field stays in front of a nearby stream
That flows screaming towards the Hlaing river
Snaking between field’s borders
Fishes fly crabs climb over the raised boundaries
And near the pond bitter rhubarbs are found
Field watercress abounds; “Pluck it if you like to eat”
Said the old Karen chief that I heard with great relief
His plum trees compound gate situated a crow’s fly away
On the sticky muddy way that I walked back
It was quiet and peaceful.

A gale brings rain readily
Fills field with water that appears golden and silvery
Emerald diamond colours of clouds
Green shreds and emerald blocks floating
In the sun sparkling and shining, graying at night
Moon dust stardust buds of jasmine and “Morning Glory”
Swimming in water splashing and splattering
They have been alive well and wriggling
Making the field at water edge white and flashing.

During the season of rice transplanting
Fields are full of water with rain clouds hanging
Daily wage earners, the women rice planters, bending
Raising their longyis’ lower ends, move about
Wearing long helmets, the gadoos or bamboo hats, the kha-mauks,
It’s about their life I painted; full of hue and colours
It’s so beautiful ever.

At daytime, it’s an open field
Strong wind blows through freely
With curved beaks scratch the earth greedily
Searching food and quacking gurgling screaming swiftly
A group of ducks waddles in the shallow stream
Sounds of cocks, hens and ducks mingling
At night croaking of toads and frogs lingering
With those of insects dragon flies and crickets shrilling
No moment of silence, it’s the jungle scream
It is so amazingly pleasant.

This Meza is an island
Situated in the pleasant country side
I’m quite happy
No company for writing, or for reading
No critic or opponent attacking
No order and no application
I’m unknown, no one knows me
No adversary no war
Only fresh and wild nature
It is free land, a peaceful land.

* It was during the reign of King Sinbyushin in the 18th century that minister U Myat San, also known as Poet Laureate Letwethondra, was banished to Meza that was a secluded far away village in northern Burma, now situated in the present Kachin State of Union of Burma. Since then, a Meza or the Meza means a banished remote place in Burma.

Dagon Taryar (Moeway magazine 1986)
Translation Dr Maung Maung Nyo (5.4.2007)

A Kiss On the Silvery Boat

Dagon Taryar

From my beloved
I came back to my room
I missed her laying on my bed
I felt tired and fell asleep soon.



The young moon was sickle like
Effervescent blue and beautiful in sight
Hanged on the window of my room outside
Like a lantern lighted for the night
Dangling high on the old emerald cloud
Sprinkling shiny silver dusts throughout.

On the moonlit bed
With closed eyes I slept
But, memory with my beloved
Enjoying love could not be departed
So fresh and fragrant was her kiss
They are still warm on my lips.



At that juncture
The waxing half moon asunder
From crescent to boat shape
The wide sky and silvery sea made
Sparkling stars from water hyacinths
Mingled with mists in downward labyrinths
Where gales begin and form pretty waves
As in the Yamona River they behaved.



On the silvery boat
Together with my lover aboard
I play, embrace and kiss her wildly
It gives us great pleasure and ecstasy
Then, suddenly the silvery boat starts
Lurching and rolling to be so dangerous
Moves between the great waves downward
To be stranded on the cloudy boulevard.

Still kissing as such
Clinging and clasping as much
Hugging her fragrance and demanding more
I woke up suddenly, feeling my heartbeats so
Lo and behold! Beside the moon and white cloud
The seven stars have somersaulted past midnight
That was really first a dream of moonlight!

From the window
Flowed down on the bed and pillow
Bluish white, bright and brilliant glow
It's so fresh and wet in this moonlight galore.



Dagon Taryar (Taryar magazine, 1946)
Translation Dr Maung Maung Nyo (4.4.2007)

The old Mandalay Hall Residents of Rangoon University

The old Mandalay Hall Residents of Rangoon University
(mya thilar yin khwin nwe ga Mandalay saung thar mya)

On the chancellor road of Rangoon University
If you enter the main gate leisurely
The first resident hall you see
Is the Mandalay Hall, that famous hall of the varsity!

In the bosom of the university, our alma mater
We learned peacefully and diligently with fervour
Knowledge wisdom life experience and pyinnya
Writing reading observation and cognition
Mindfulness, dexterity and excellence in education
Studied well, performed well and succeeded by generation
But, we are humble, honest and hardworking
Never to be forgotten, still remembering.

“No less accomplished is the Mandalay Hall”
It’s the motto that says all
We avail ourselves on any call of duty
For the good of the country and society
We perform our tasks vigorously and variedly
Until we reach our goal successfully.

Much water has flowed under the bridge
Youth has become wiser with wit and grit
We all have contributed the country newly built
In all aspects bright brilliant beautiful and big
We did with honour courage and unity
We overcome all the difficulties
We did not kneel or submit to any bully or authority
We remain honest, sincere and friendly
To each other and to the people in the country
We’ll make Burma a success story in the world
Until we achieve our goal in splendor.

Aung Pyeh (ah htut pan) ( Mandalay Hall magazine, 1995)
Translation Dr Maung Maung Nyo (3.4.2007)

The Heartbeat

The Heartbeat
(yin deir ga khon)

Fluttering
Flustering feeling flat and fainted
Exhausted and excited
Palpitating panicky and agitated.

One mid day around
While I was roaming town
In one street corner shop I found
Her standing, I looked hard and long
Ashamed astonished and dumb-founded.

“Oh! Beauty, Hla Kay Thi”, I muttered
Like black clouds hovering ominously
Twisted tress of her hair arranged coyly
From the high blue clouds in the sky
She smiled sweetly like silver stars
Those bright eyes looking at me
Sparkling, scintillating shining like emeralds.

When young
At life commands one morning
Under the shining sun beams
We enjoyed love and daydreams
Those pictures come back in streams
Making misty past hard forgetting.

Now standing in front of me
Slim strong smart and sexy
Even after marriage she is still pretty
More and more beautiful in reality
Resembling early buds of flowers in rainy season.

“I’m going”, said she
Smiling sweetly with a kind glint
Hinting farewell to me as she sprinted
My heart flutters, splatters and sinks.

Fluttering
Flustering feeling flat and fainted
Exhausted and excited
Palpitating panicky and agitated.

Dagon Taryar (Taryar magazine, 1948)
Translation Dr. Maung Maung Nyo (3.4.2007)

A Positive Thing for Burma

A Positive Thing for Burma

A friend called me a cynic
Because I told everything negative about Burma
After coming back from her this year
He further said I was lucky for not being arrested there.

In reality, I found many positive things in Burma
People smile whenever they see you there
They are not hostile and apathetic with you ever
They don’t show snobs, sobs, taboos or jeers
But they offer you help in small things or bigger
They would even share their food, drinks and shelters.

Once in Rangoon’s airport customs gate
They searched every one for contrabands and foreign-made
But, on seeing my name on my luggage as a doctor
They let me go without searching thereafter
They said,” You are a people’s writer we respect”
They even carried my suitcases to the outlet gate.

One day, an old student of mine came to see me
On hearing that I was in the Rangoon city
He paid homage to me with money
So that I could use it for small things and taxi
How clever and cute he is for his Ar-sa-ri (teacher)
It is according to the Mingala Sutta of Buddhism.

A group of anatomists also paid homage to me
By offering a luncheon at the Duck restaurant willingly
They talked, kowtowed, they laughed and photographed merrily
They gave presents and exchanged addresses happily
They thought they were at medical school in their twenties
It is a sign of Burmese culture, civility and courtesies.

Old students of the Mandalay Hall of the Rangoon University
That famous hall where collegian Ne Win and footballers studied
Also entertained me to a brunch with past three wardens
It was of sour Shan rice, soup, fried tofu, plain tea and Sanonmaken
So pleasant and happy were the old Mandalay Hall residents
They talked, they joked, and shared their experiences.

One day in the morning
We went a government office in Yankin
Every one as greeted us with smiling
We got what we want within an hour
They were courteous, kind and able workers
They said they had to forget their difficulties and pressures.

I would therefore say most people in Burma are good
They are polite, sweet and helpful, much better than they should
They smile more, they help more, they look after others more
Is it because all are living under the same conditions full of woes?
Yes, the Burmese people are relying themselves more and more!
It’s a good sign, a positive thing for Burma, to grow
For the people are the greatest asset of a nation, is it not so?

Composed by Dr Maung Maung Nyo (3.4.2007)
Dr. Maung Maung Nyo composed this poem for AMIM first anniversary.
AMIM = Alumni Myanmar Institutes of Medicine

The Making of Modern Pagan (Bagan)

The Making of Modern Pagan (Bagan)

Just February this year
We returned to Burma
To pay homage to Shwedagon pagoda
To donate our belongings to monasteries
And to visit Pagan, the ancient country.

We flew to Pagan by Yangon Airways
From Yangon International airport the next day
After our arrival from Kuching by Silk Way
That was luxurious and most comfortable
It provided food drinks and refreshments all day.

We arrived in Pagan in the afternoon
Too soon to sleep and too late to tour
So we wandered in the Thiripyitsaya Hotel compound
Until we found a pony cart to take us around
We dined at famous Shwe Myan Mar food court
That is clean, cheap and hospitable with tourists aboard.

After the dawn the next day
We hired a sedan with daily pay
We went from pagoda to pagoda earnestly
Kowtowing, photographing and buying every thing
That is interesting, mesmerising and exciting.

All the children are there
From nine ten to twenty years
Selling statuettes, postcards and pictures
Telling us to purchase them as souvenirs
To help them eat and enroll at school this year.

We went to gourd pagoda (Bu Phaya) on the Irrawaddy
That is the handwork of legendary King Pyu Saw Hti
It was once lily white and a conspicuous Ceti
But now it is golden and unrecognizable for me
I wonder where is history.

We paid homage to Shwezigon and Abe-yadana
We offered gold and money to Thatbinnyu and Anandar
The Cetis are clean and gleaming with gold colour
But, we observed the modern bricks and mortars there
In repairing the old pagodas these and others
There were new Cetis here and there too.

We saw a new wall with a new gate
Just outside the Tharapa gate
It makes an eyesore as it is brand new
It has no historical value apart from guides’
And it guards a new unfinished palace inside.

As you go further out of old Pagan
You saw a modern tower among the ruins
A lift, a restaurant, a cinema and all modern within
It’s a spit clean shiny showcase it seems
But clearly it is unfitting in ancient Pagan.

There is a gleaming retreat village near the tower
Buildings are large, massive and in all splendour
Asphalt roads, canopied trees and auto cars
Swimming pool and a golf course not very far
It’s a dreamland like Disneyland in America!

It’s modern Pagan in the making, but
It’s making us moan for our ancient Pagan!

Composed by Dr Maung Maung Nyo (2.4.2007)

Dr. Maung Maung Nyo composed this poem for AMIM first anniversary.
AMIM = Alumni Myanmar Institutes of Medicine

Heartthrob Jubilee

Heartthrob Jubilee
(yin khon than yatu thabin)

Ten twenty years
Thirty or forty years ago
Young vivacious and attractive also
Youthful and so lovely at first sight
Brown piano and nails red bright
Really thrilled and excited.

Fragrant and captivating
Love makes her faking smiles and wiles
Taught me about her laughs and cries
Understood her likes and lies
Her weaknesses, strengths and styles
Experienced life’s downturns and designs
Bright shining stars and moon at nights
Enjoyed to walk together with high heads.

Boats and sampans lurching
Steamers and pontoon bridges creaking
Pony carts and trains bumping or fleeting
Suffering motion sickness, still walking on the beaches
Collecting “flame flowers”, roaring in darkish blue niches
Riding motorized launches snaking through floating islets
Galloping gliding and speeding, splashing fresh water droplets
Making misty far mountain ranges pop nearest
Gazing and eating sour Shan rice at rest
Smelling fragrant pine and Tamar (Nim) odours
Enjoying sight of yellow sunflowers all over.

In the shades of jungles and mountains
Lake, islands and water fountains
Glassed sidewalks, caves and dark terrains
Sweat-less, fresh and smart, yet dusty and dark the same
Sounds of Saing and accordion reined
That of Ozi and gongs acclaimed
Moved in the crowd and giggled plain
Cuddled and chuckled at the steps of lion mane.

On white and black squares
Of bathroom we mumble
Assemble red stalked lotuses at Saturn corner
Poured water over Buddha image to be drowned
Clutching happily African daisies abound
“Now, come Thanakha seller” she howled
Bargained and bought somehow
Holding salted Chinese plums in a bowl.

Friends agree fondly
Adversary frown, however, old mates renewed
Sweet smile reserved only for the people
No different from me on comparison
Same belief and similar psyche
No one can divide us, oh, never parting thee!

Dagon Taryar (1979)
Translation Dr Maung Maung Nyo (30.3.2009)

The Violinist

The Violinist
(ta yaw shin)

Enter one house and exit another
He finishes the whole day in pleasure
No one dwelling says, “Have a drink, brother”
No one offers friendship and invites him in
He steadfastly sings on with his silver violin
So clever and experienced musician!

Your life
I like to borrow for a while
Then I would sing in style
Long and high crescendos calmly
To wander in Burma country
Like a fiery zany fiend let loose.

At the end of dawn
Where sweet and smiling lady yawns
Looking down from high glass window
If fortunate enough, I would see you though
Childhood sweet heart might miss me also
“Give me a betel pun and a cup of water
Please quick dear”
I request clearly for pleasure.

“You, beggar…
Go away, I cannot deliver”
She utters loudly
Uncultured and unbecoming of a royal lady
She shouted and ordered me so rudely
(Oh, this writer in a new body might
Pass through to another life
My first lover may cremate rightly
My dear demised body).

Min Thu Wun (1933) (B.E. 1295 Tagu/Kason Ghanhta Lawka magazine)
Translation Dr Maung Maung Nyo (1.4.2007)

Mother's Image

Mother's Image
(mi khin yoke tu)

Sine the emergence of first human
It diverges into man and woman
They are different from each other
In each nature and appearance
No resemblance in creation.

Woman
Owns a womb for special purpose
It enables her to deliver a fetus
To be conspicuous biologically and physiologically
It blooms so many living flowers.

Love begets love
Intimacy ensues resulting in
Fertilization and conception
Beginning in summer the zygote prospers
Grows and matures in stages
Cells proliferate to make tissues and organs
It ultimately forms a new human being.

Mother is…
Making a human image it creates
To be called a sculptor definitely.

Mother is…
Drawing lines and fixing colours for a human
Rightly be called the draw master.

Mother is…
Making a shelter for a human-elect
She shall be known as nature's architect.

Mother is…
Teaching noble ideals and ethics
She is fit to be an engineer psychologist.

Mother is…
Providing food and nutrition
She deems to be a doctor.

Thus, she shoulders so many burdens
Without any break and doldrums
It makes her noble and sumptuous in glory
Mother! I pay homage to thee for eternity.

Dagon Taryar (Lon ma lay magazine 1985)
Translation Dr Maung Maung Nyo (31.3.2007)

Village Maiden

Village Maiden
(taw ei tha mee)

Azure
Blue sky beautiful in brownish hue
On the eyes rule the blue lines.

At dawn
Found on yellowish golden cheeks
Full round fresh reddish mounds
That is so rosy and attractive now.

Woods and mountains
Ravines and bushes in train
Arranged disorderly on the plains
Fruits and vegetables in skein
Well grown and fresh skinned maidens
Resemble naturally pretty women.

Flowing continuously
Clearly and cleanly with freedom
Rivers and streams of Kanbawza
All visitors are welcome warmly
Heartily and sincerely with abundant
Genuine smiles on their lips.

Dagon Taryar (Taryar magazine , 1947)
Translation D Maung Maung Nyo (1.4.2007)