HYACINTH'S WAY BY ZAWGYI

Hyacinth's Way (13)

STILL KEEPING THE SHOP

An up-country boat to sell up-country goods,
Rests in the tidal creek;
Jaggery and all kinds of peas, you should
They say, buy while you meet.

A fishing boat to sell fishery goods,
Rests in the tidal creek;
Spotted prawn and various kinds of fish, you should
They say, buy while you meet.

Close to the bank, a potter's raft with goods,
Rests in the tidal creek;
A hundred viss holding pot and others to sell, you should
They say, buy while you meet.

Close to the bank, a bamboo raft with goods,
Rests in the tidal creek;
Slender bamboo and differing kinds to sell, you should
They say, buy while you meet.

Time and again on the tidal way, the flower Beda
Riding the flow recalcitrantly with the rising and falling waters,
When asked she has anything to sell,
None like others, does she tell;
With a yellow patch on blue,
Though happy in the rising true,
To deny the falling ebb, she never will,
In the tidal creek's waters, that winds and meanders
She's keeping shop still.

Zawgyi


(Rangoon University Annual Magazine, 1959-1960)

Water hyacinth

(Called Beda flower in Burmese)