Child Dishwasher (a poem by Saksiri Meesomsueb)
Child dishwasher
=
Ting-ting slap spoons on plates
Clattering from plate to plate
Resounding and reverberating
Kilometers away
=
Empty plates come out
Full plates go in
Guests who have eaten leave
Guests who have yet to eat come in
=
Leftovers are left on the plates
The pile of scraps gets higher and higher
Incredibly tall and large
Even higher and higher, into the air
Now it's up to the clouds
=
Oh, little child dishwasher
Enough food for ten thousand
Hundred thousand
A million years
=
Moon, oh dear Moon
I don't ask you for rice, dear Moon
-The-
Source: The South East Asia Write Anthology of Thai Short Stories and Poems. An anthology of award-winning short stories and poems. Silkworm Books, Thailand. English title: Child dishwasher. Translated and edited by Erik Kuijpers.
Poet is Saksiri Meesomsueb, in Thai More information, Nakhon Sawan, 1957, pseudonym Kittisak (more). As a teenage student, he experienced the turbulent 70s. About the poet and his work, see elsewhere in this blog by Lung Jan:
https://www.thailandblog.nl/achtergrond/thailand-om-dichterlijk-van-te-worden/
About this blogger
- Built in 1946. Nicknamed 'Running tax almanac' and worked in that profession for 36 years. Moved to Thailand at 55. Disability forced him from his family in Nongkhai to a house with home care and mobility scooter in Súdwest-Fryslân.
Read the latest articles here
CultureJanuary 21 2025The Princess Who Refuses to Talk to a Man. From: Fables and Legends from Thailand. No. 10 part 3 of 5.
CultureJanuary 13 2025The Princess Who Refuses to Talk to a Man. From: Fables and Legends from Thailand. No. 10 part 2 of 5.
CultureJanuary 5 2025The Princess Who Refuses to Talk to a Man. From: Fables and Legends from Thailand. No. 10 part 1 of 5.
Tax in the NetherlandsDecember 23 2024Taxes: The road to reduction from art 23 paragraph 6
What a beautiful yet sad poem.
How much do we waste that another would desire.