my old neighbor

My room, provided by my school, is on a second floor. Looking from here, I can see a wooden old house situated a block away from my room. Standing alone among the school aparments, the house is hugged by wild mango and coconut trees. I thought one day I would walk down there and asked owners to have a bite of a raw mango. It must be yummy.

I didn’t realize until a week ago that folks living in the house do not have electricity. What about tap water? I didn’t think they do.

One Sunday morning, I was up at the crack of dawn. Zipping coffee at a back porch, I smelled that morning in a different way. At the dim corner of the house, I saw an old woman smoking a palm leave cigarette, leaning to her radio, gazing stars in the haze of cloud.

Then from that morning on, I was used to that same picture with the same smell. Sometimes I saw the woman light up a lamp, talking with a young man who might be her son inside the house. Some day I heard a country song from her radio.

This house belongs to a resident who is one of many supposed to move out of this village to a new land supported by the school 16 years ago.

The decision for these folks not to move out of their ancestor’s land might show a sign of resistance to the academic community. However, I don’t think it’s their fault to hang in there—where they call it home.

Like its owner, the house, a part of my new life here, is aging while the school is growing.

The school of life is rough. The fight of those in that house is on going…and seems never end.

a doggie tale

My nephew has 2 puppies--zaza & toto. Zaza, a naughty girl and the queen of the house, is an American Shepherd. The first day we met, Zaza jumped high on me and acted like we knew each other for a decade. She might sense doggie smell (with US$) on my skin (haha). Zaza is only 6 months old but her size is huge already. This puppy reminds me of Sammi, Colleen’s prince and McGragor, my soccor play mate in this picture.

I'm not sure what kind of dog Toto is. The first time I saw him I just felt like, 'oh. Boy, you look so sad'. His face, his eyes said everything. He's a kidney problem. My nephew looked after him the best he could. He spent (for those who hate dog, they might say Toto sucked money) lots of money to save his puppy. Toto loved eating mango and sleeping under my mom’s bed (the coolest spot in the house). Doggie is smart.

Toto just died 2 weeks ago. He broke many people's hearts—his owners, his Vet (according to my nephew, Toto's doctor is cute. Another inspiration for my nephew to tour her office, I guess).

The house was empty without Toto. Zaza became a new puppie, walking and sniffing everything around the house to search for her long gone buddy. For a week she didn’t touch her food; her eyes were sad; her tail was sadder.

At night, the puppy now sleeps in my nephew’s bedroom. Kids come to play with her, curing her lonliness. She has become the queen of the village.


Two days ago I could see a smile in her eyes. The tail started to wiggle again. who know, in her heart, she might not feel the same.

miss you, mom

A missing line

April breeze
Rubber tree leave
Rest on the muddy path
Alone

A bloody bullet
Stabbed in a pale body
A trunk on a truck
Cold

Your land or my land
Same old story
From my mom

Say good bye to fading memory

a weary afternoon

A new chapter of Thai history is added. Bangkok was Iraq yesterday and will be that way from that moment when the red shirted protesters turned buses to be their weapons, rampaged their motherland with disgust, stormed fear all over streets.

In this IT age, we're fortunate to see people kill others and get killed on Live TVs networks. No media seemed to care to save lives but produce a nice shot from their cameras, capturing these mobs acted like a malfuntioned robot.

Don't know how to explain what has been going on. The situation turns out to be too complex for the pale government to fix.

My brother was in his apartment not so far from the riot areas. I called him a few times to ensure he's safe. My brother joined the communist party and lived in a jungle for 4 years during Thailand Uprising 1976. So he seems to understand the whole situation well and does not overworry. He told me many stories during my 6 years absence. On that note, he said this day would come, and it did come.

So, what goes around does come around, as the old saying goes.

Today we're paying a high price for a society where its members have been taught to yearn for democracy--somebody’s system.

A little voice from a war zone,
On a weary afternoon,

a new beginning

a parade of toy guns
prepared to entertain farang guests
with a heavy wallet

the crack of dawn
a tank stormed
a marching band

lives dropped like summer leaves
before the smoke
died down


the party of hatred was celebrated
on a new year day
in the land of (once called) smile

bangkok
april 13, 2009