HYACINTH'S WAY BY ZAWGYI

Hyacinth's Way (14)

THE BEAUTY OF THE CREEK

Feeling uneasy, the reed-piper comes down to the water,
Where up and down floats Ma Beda,
The place she wearily traversed;
The reed-piper's interest with songs and musical verse,
With endless ups and downs, always on her way,
How tired she'll be! his songs say.

Oh! my mister piper,
With the waters full the Beda flowers,
Flow up-water in line, spritely and fine
Level with the shore,
The beauty of the creek at rise, as before.

Oh! you little piper,
When the waters fall the Beda flowers,
Pull away from the shore to mid-waters,
The expanse of mudflats to left and right,
And in the midst is Ma Beda,
The beauty of the creek at ebb, a scenic sight.

Like the rise and ebb never ending,
A recurring performance, ascending and descending;
I, the traveler, Ma Beda
If I be tired let it be so, to speak
For I had born and built a beauty at this creek.

Zawgyi

(Rangoon University Annual Magazine, 1959-1960)

Water hyacinth

(Called Beda flower in Burmese)