"By the Bonfire of Poetry" by Min Ko Naing

Portrait of Min Ko Naing by Kenneth Wong

Most people know Min Ko Naing as a student activist, an icon of Burma's 88 generation. Next to Aung San Suu Kyi, he is probably the best known Burmese dissident. But very few people outside Burma, I suspect, are privy to the artist and poet Min Ko Naing. The same charismatic revolutionary who once stood up to a ruthless military regime with his pro-democracy rhetoric and rallying cries also has a tendency to write plays, dabble in watercolors, and compose verses.

While many of the country's poets are experimenting with free verses and modernism, Min Ko Naing seems to draw inspiration from classical poets. His poetry is usually punctuated with traditional rhyme schemes and meters. In it, he reveals his vulnerability and admits his frailty in ways he wouldn't normally do in front of newspaper editors and TV cameras.

I came across the poem below on Facebook, courtesy of Dr. Daw Thynn Thynn, a Dharma teacher and a fan of Min Ko Naing. I'm hoping that, by translating Min Ko Naing's Burmese verses into English, I offer a glimpse of the famous rebel's private soul to those who don't understand the poet's mother tongue.

Min Ko Naing's poem in Burmese

By the Bonfire of Poetry

I must confess
I still miss you, Winter.

You welcomed us with scattered snow;
we were soaked in songs.

When we poured our melodies into the night,
the stars were still
powering up their generators.

We chopped up and burned
agreements that needed no signature
as logs for our little bonfire
(but we grilled no one’s meaty reward).

The darker the night,
the thinner the sweater of dignity;
shrouded in snow,
even at cockcrow we were still sober
(in my imagination, the ale was watered-down).

I’m not happy, Winter—
I stay warm in my personal flames,
nursed by the breath of own heart;
but those who want to barbecue and bite bullets
continue to feud with me.

—Min Ko Naing (translated by Kenneth Wong)

Min Ko Naing keeps a Facebook page devoted to his artistic pursuits here.
The portrait of Min Ko Naing above was created in Autodesk SketchBook Pro for iPad.