Tucked away (a poem by Saksiri Meesomsueb)
Wat Pha Lat near Chiang Mai
Tucked away
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Stare, read, race past, look back
She cries aloud, 'Father dear,
Only ten kilometers to the city'
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The ridge in the distance
Gets big, bigger, looms near
She tucks it away, fingers over her eyes
It stays large through the fingers
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When the mountains come into view
Do they see the Buddha statue
And the closer to the city
The larger the image becomes
Until the mountain is hidden behind him
He sits facing the city
Down there, dimly lit in the dark
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Cross the bridge to the center
Large buildings rise high
Lots of cars that look so different
Different models and shapes
Like busy ants between the buildings
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Suddenly Dad slams on the brakes…
The car in front of him hits another
Bickering; your mistake, i'm right
Anger, arguing, not thinking first
They forget the green-yellow-red
Car chaos in a crazy city
Help, Buddha!
The child mutters Well,
Where is that lofty and great Buddha
Which we saw in the distance
Before entering the big city
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Here, in the city center
Have those huge buildings
Definitely tucked him away
So townspeople don't see him
-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: Hidden. 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/
Wat Pha Lat (วัดผาลาด) is hidden in the woods near Chiang Mai and can be visited via the 'monks trail'. See https://tipsthailand.nl/monks-trail-chiang-mai/