Hello brother, how are you
And how is your work?
For me everything is fine here
Now there is more smoke and less rain everyday
Yeah, the air is heavy and I’ve been feeling melancholy a bit.
But the town has never looked this nice before, believe me
We have armed soldiers everywhere to protect us
And we no longer have our shadows
That used to follow us when we walk about
So we don’t need to feel insecure anymore, do we?
Everybody enjoys going around in a circle
This forms a shape of a snake biting its own tail.
Though the streets and the stairs look like the covers of
Those old paperbacks on pavements, to pass the days seem fine.
When we were kids we lived in black-and-white films
Now life comes in Technicolor.
We also have a newer lifestyle
Don’t think we buy a lot of new clothes
We just turn our skin inside out to reveal its beautiful stitching
This is how we are dressed these days.
The way we talk, eat and act is published in periodicals.
Although whatever you see might look gray and dead,
Ice-cream caps are still pink and so are the girls’ lips.
Most of the young people like to dye their hair,
Or they love to spend time chatting with their virtual selves.
They are very ambitious kids who like to suck old blood
While the old feed on the decayed past.
And yeah, whenever you look up, you can see that dark ceiling.
Anyway you can do a lot of things for fun
For example, you can keep birds in cages
Or raise gold fish in bowls
You can shout “What a wonderful world!”
Or your favorite pastime could be
Making love with your enemies
The experts in the area of conflict resolution recommend it.
Ok, brother, I have to stop here.
Ah, wait, I have a request
There are a million ants in my flat now
They are eating everything
Books. Rice. Fruits. T-shirts.
So can you recommend a good insect spray?
Yeah, those little creatures have nibbled on my favorite T-shirt
That has a stenciled picture of Aung San Suu Kyi on it.
Gosh, those little fuckers left holes in her eyes and mouth.

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Maung Day is a Burmese poet, writer, artist and translator. He has edited a few literary and art magazines. He now lives in Thailand. Read his other poem ‘As We Ran Out In the Rain’ here.

Photos of Yangon by Sharon Chin