The Banana Leaf Girl (a poem by Phaiwarin Khao-Ngam)

 

The banana leaf girl

=

My banana leaf girl on the plantation,

Packed white rice for my meal;

For all field work or further away

Your packet of rice to get through the day.

=

You offered me rice when hunger arose,

The fragrance also refreshed the hottest midday sun;

Every bite pleasant and fragrant

A lasting perfume, almost intoxicating

=

loved you, my banana leaf beauty,

Ever watched you closely and precisely;

Then we parted, indifferent,

Irreparable, it seemed.

=

Lonely, and that in this time,

Abandoned, in an age of emptiness,

Full of heartbreak in frivolous times,

Lost and everything hopeless.

=

Giggling femme fatale, plastic jacket,

A bizarre intersection; this strange aunt

He laughed like a flirting slut

Lured me away from my banana girl.

=

Plantation beauty, stop folding,

Your green clothes will soon turn gray,

Then we hear music from plastic boxes

The end of our banana love song. 

-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: Banana leaf maiden. Translated and edited by Erik Kuijpers.

Closer is Phaiwarin Khao-Ngam, in Thai More info ขาวงาม, Roi Et, 1961. Comes from a farming family; became a novice, a monk, attended a Sangha school and became a language and Thai literature teacher. Became a proofreader and journalist in Chiang Mai. Later went to work in Bangkok with Siam Rath. With his collection Banana Stem Horse (*) he won the South East Asia Write Award in 1995. About the poet and his work, see also elsewhere in this blog by Lung Jan:

https://www.thailandblog.nl/achtergrond/thailand-om-dichterlijk-van-te-worden/

(*) A banana stem horse is a toy for children made from the stems of the banana tree.