At Peace of Mind

Dr Maung Maung Nyo

My heart leaps up when I rise up from bed
There is mist around the blue mountain head
It’s like the Shan State I have visited and valued
Now I live in Kuching the cleanest City we knew.

(Kuching in the Mist)

White clouds hover over heads and tiny town
Rain comes sudden as though someone pours down
From high above the mountain to douse and drown us
Then suddenly the sun shines with a rainbow to cheer up.

(Kuching Under the Clouds and Mountains)

It’s cool after the rain
You can forget the pain
Of living near the equator
Now you’re high in Himalaya.

(The Shimla Range in the Himalaya )

I always think of Shimla
Like a Tamvadinsa or similar
As described by one Burmese author
Where Dorman Smith conjured
Plans to recapture Japan’s Burma
Thein Pe Myint opposed it for ever
He was for Burma’s independence
We got it as the consequence.

(Lashio in the Shan State)

Without him or Aung San
Burma will be undone
No one will benefit
All the people will perish.

(General Aung San During the Japanese Period)

Now we still have identity
We can enjoy our itinerary
To any country in the world if prefer
Standing tall speaking loud and clear
Our own language or English
The lingua franca as it is
Forget about the British Colonial days
We’re independent and sovereign any ways.

(The Great Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, Myanmar)

I know Burma is in trouble
No one likes to travel
For fear of unrest and riots
That the junta resorts
To control the populace
In destitute and disgrace
Denied of democracy and decency
They demand diligently and doggedly.

(The Niagara Falls)

Able and educated people leave the country
For clean water and greener grass perfunctorily
People in distress do without thinking systematically
But I always think of the people at large sympathetically.

(The Magic Kingdom in Disney World, Orlando, Florida)

For me I can eat three meals a day
I can read and write as I like to stay
I can sleep with snoring so soundly
Even dogs can bark on end profoundly.

(At a Dinner in Kuching; L to R: Drs Nan Ommar, Phyu Phyu Aung,

Yin Yin Nwe, Dr Tin Win, Dr Myat Moe, Dr MMN)

I have a peace of mind now a days
No distraction or discussion can sway
To futile arguments angst and angers
My mind has matured as Buddha renders.

(The Senate House, University of London, England)

I still miss lively and lovely London
The heart and head of enigmatic England
But Malaysia has all what London had in the sixties
A British colony has developed to the point of princely.

(Snow-covered East Lansing, Michigan, USA)

I still remember Michigan and the Midwest
Hearth of hard work and hotbed
Where Black and White vie for supremacy
Asians and others look on with timidity.

(The Grand Canyon)

America is a Goliath sleeping in state
As Nobel Laureate poet Eliot indicates
Full of new ideas and inventions
But many perish without insurance or renditions.

(The Mandalay Fort and Moat)

I have a peace of mind
That is sensitive and sublime
My wife and children are the same
They’re happy and healthy like a game.

(My Family)

I am satisfied with my self
I don’t need any outside help
Thanks to my fate and Karma
I pray every day to the Buddha
That I may keep going strong
To help others and bring them along!

Dr Maung Maung Nyo
10.3.2010 (Original)