"Each With Its Own Grace" by Tin Moe

Girl at a pagoda, photo by Alexander Mazurkevich / Shutterstock.com

"Each with its own grace" or "A-hla ko zi" is the opening poem from Burmese poet Tin Moe's collection The Balladeer on a Boat, Hlay da zin naet tha chin thae. A beloved literary figure and former political prisoner, Tin Moe was best remembered for his succinct but potent three-line poem called "The great guest."

The cigar has burned down;
The sun is brown.
Send me home, my friends!

The Balladeer on a Boat was published in 1963, a year after General Ne Win took control of the country. The coup marked the beginning of Burma's long nightmare under authoritarian rule.

Tin Moe spent four years in prison for his public support of the anti-government protests that broke out in 1988. After his release, he immigrated to the U.S., to be with his daughter in California. His deep longing for his homeland is evident in his poetry written in exile. In "Desert years" (translated by Vicky Bowman), he wrote:

Tears
a strand of grey hair
a decade gone.

In those years
the honey wasn't sweet
mushrooms wouldn't sprout
farmlands were parched ...

from Bones will Crow, Northern Illinois University Press, 2013   

Reporting Tin Moe's passing in exile in 2007, The Irrawaddy's Khin Maung Soe lamented, "Now the cigar is burnt down and the sun has darkened. And he has lost his home forever."

Each With Its Own Grace 

by Tin Moe
Translated by Kenneth Wong

The moon shines
in its own light, its own glow.

The little torch too
with its own reach, its own fang.

The little jasmine
with its own fame, its own bud.

The yellow Badauk*
in its own season, with its own scent.

The deep wide river
has its patterns, its own waves.

The curly creek flows
with its own stream, its own ferry.

This, that, and everything—
each a beauty in its own right.

Nature blesseth everyone
with charm and power
as its gift.

Be not jealous, hold no grudge;
envy maketh
ugliness.

With its own clout, in its own pace,
in the right time, at the right place,
each finds its role, its own purpose,
proves capable in its own measure.

Note: Badauks or Padauks are the yellow flowers that bloom yearly during April, the time for Burmese new year. 

Hand-written version of Tin Moe's poem, courtesy of A.K. Moe