There lived a widower with her descendants
She is not anxious with any assistance
Day by day she does merits making
She thought there are no other mothers who can do as her
Oh dear! You feed your kids with no weeping
But you still said that you were poor
The poorest woman in this world
You asked to whom are poor level as you, please clarify.
When feeding your kids you were helped by ten
You are not called for house works or cooking
But your poor can not be compared with remote women
Who make incomes for their daily surviving?
Imagining when their kids were killed by bombs
They were crying as if they would die
Those were the most awful time of their lives
Could you please clarify what level of their poor lives?
Dara Kanlagna (born 1940) Laos
Translated by Thanongsack Vongsackda
Source: Asean 20th Century Literatures - Selected Poems and Short Stories from Lao PDR, Thongbay Phothisane, 2018 [online at Asean Learning]
Who does the narrator referring in the second and third stanza?
ReplyDelete