Once we were dinosaurs

Once we were dinosaurs
(ta kha ka dot dinosaurs bar beir)

Millions of years ago
There flourished our forefathers
In historic Germany, Canada and America
Including Mongolia as monarchs.

Has Man evolved? Lion means a small fry
It roams three mountainous terrains while just yesterday
Lord of all animals it swaggers
One howl is enough to terrorize
Deer stag and animals of small size
Fall, frightened and demised.

If our ancestors
Howl, growl and attack
Rock walls crack
Inanimate objects shocked and fall flat
Forests and mountains reverberated.

Our ancestors can,
For man unfamiliar treetop’s
Young leaves, extend neck from the ground
Dine with pomp and gong.

Not to mention the body
Neck alone is twelve feet nearly
Height reaches twice of man longitudinally
In Africa, Europe and elsewhere presently
Our ancestor’s fossils and others’ properties
Dug and found I hear, really.

Well, now…
Our ancestor’s form and bones
Shown in the museums and cloned.

Ashamed of myself and thy
In our generation in our time
Size of a hand span while in green bush
We change to green colour to suit
In yellow bushes and creepers
We alter to yellow colour
To adapt to our surroundings
Nodding our heads accordingly.

When edibles are found
We scramble along rapidly
No sense of shame for ancestry
Forget about pride and honesty
Lowest esteem and nothing left for collection
Really no voice rendition
For food satisfaction we move bush to bush
Housing in wood holes, we chameleons would…
(Well) once we were dinosaurs millions of years ago!

Khin Hnin Yu (1.1.1999)
Translation Dr Maung Maung Nyo (26.3.2007)