Khin Aung Aye
Achilles’ Heel
I can knock your jaws off.
So the story goes…
In that corner,
Delousing or debugging
Almost ending up in sex.
A poem I slept with a night too late,
What I’ve been imbibing for four/five years,
All have come into being just now.
The flowers that dare to sing
The restless midnight bells
The wild buffalos petrified of dreaming.
Above floating curtains
History in the form of a silk lace.
These are just portrayals
By milestones we have passed
And ashes in our clenched fists.
As for me,
He who’s using talcum powder,
He who’s using fragranced soap.
Ahead of us,
Doors opening ajar, one after another,
And an obsequious dog who knows exactly his master’s desires.
The dark cloud sinning to the end of the samsara.
I had to swallow a bit of arak.
Then,
After a lot of ‘thens’,
I was sold by my own street-smartness.
All I get in return are gilded footsteps
Futures fashioned by a stray.
Listen…
As if just waking up,
The mouth that’s about to be nitpicking me,
Like picking mushrooms and bamboo shoots,
The look about to bury you alive,
Along with them, A pair of hypocritical hands.
Between the two of us,
There never was a misunderstood kyat.
Now you want to murder me?
What day was it yesterday?
As our child jingles at home,
I am still drowning in the mire of lies outdoors.
Poisonous liquid,
DailyVita,
Existentialism…whatever.
In such perfect pitch
Who are you to resist
Before everything is squandered
At a snap of my fingers,
The social affairs are executed.
All of a sudden,
In this lovelorn evening
With suicidal tendencies,
I kiss the twilight,
I sing a song of agony.
(Translated by Ko Ko Thett)
Pandora
The Sniper
When you see others on a flag march
Repress your swelling bugs
No mortar shells, no hand grenade explosion
This battle must go on quietly
With a calm mind, in cold blood
With sharp shooting, trained hands
Hone your skills when the sun shines
Camouflage like a chameleon
Be immovable as a sleeper
Don’t blink, don’t doze off
Don’t miss any chance
If necessary, play dead
Don’t flinch, even if they walk all over you
Blame your fate if they shoot you point-blank
To double-check your death
Your life may end up in anticipation in lethe
There isn’t much of a choice to make
For example…
Five enemies are approaching
Five bullets are all you have.
(Translated by Ko Ko Thett)