The Metaphor

Dr Maung Maung Nyo

A friend was furious

Said it was ludicrous

To call him a banana

He’s a Chinese in America.

I did not know why he’s so angry

Then, I read an American short story

In it, a son calls his father a banana

He’s Chinese outside and White interior.

(Chinatown in Washington D.C.)

I laughed heartily sending out sound

My wife felt curious and looked around

“I like the comparison amusing

Yellow skin outside and white within

A Westernized Chinese in flame!

I don’t see any one to blame.”

(Chinese in America Railroad Construction)

“But some people are sensitive

They don’t like being compared with

Banana or coconut or betel nut”

My wife admonished me clear cut.

(Durian Fruit in Malaysia)

Yes, some are compared to fig fruit

For red lovely colour as the outer suit

But worms and waste stuff inside

They are known as fools out right.

(Coconuts in India)

Some are ugly to look at from exterior

Full of thorns and ugly architecture

But inside it was delicious like éclair

Try the taste of Durian in Malaysia.

(Betal Nuts in Burma)

Still there are beautiful and tasty fruits

Like the mango apple and peach group

But no one compares them to any man

It’s so obvious they’re rare brand.

(Coffee Beans)

I don’t mind being called a nut

Even as coconut, coffee or peanut

Being a Burman bungling about

I’m brown and brawny in and out.

(Lotus Flower in Tranquil Water)

We Burmese pray to 3 Gems

Wishing every one to be friends

“As cool as water, as fragrant as flower”

It’s a good metaphor for all over the world.

Dr Maung Maung Nyo

23.10.2009 (original)