Place of My Birth

Place of My Birth

Place of my birth,
Home of my blood,
Land of fertile fields,
Folks without ills,
Charitable hearts with yearly yields,
Where farmers were working like honey bees.

Place of my love,
Home of my friends,
Land of my playground,
Tree climbing in the paddy field,
Fishing in the small stream,
Where my fond memories were buried.

Now, the place of my sorrow,
Home of my hollow,
Land of hunger and thirst,
The stench of the death in the air,
And vultures in the sky,
Where my loved one died.

Shwe Ngya Maung

Unplayed Piano by Damien Rice

Come and see me
Sing me to sleep
Come and free me
Or hold me if i need to weep
Or maybe it's not the season
Or maybe it's not the year
Or maybe there's no good reason
Why i'm locked up inside
Just cause they wanna hide me
The moon goes bright
The darker they make my night

Unplayed pianos
Are often by a window
In a room where nobody loved goes
She sits alone with her silent song
Somebody bring her home

Unplayed piano (unplayed piano)
Still holds a tune (still holds a tune)
Lock on the lid (years, years pass by)
In a stale, stale room (in the changing of the moon)
Maybe it's not that easy (too many windows)
Or maybe it's not that hard (in a stale, stale room)
Maybe they could release me (stale, stale room)
Let the people decide
I've got nothing to hide
I've done nothing wrong
So why've i been here so long?

Unplayed pianos
Are often by a window
In a room where nobody loved goes
She sits alone with her silent song
Somebody bring her home

Unplayed pianos
Are often by a window
In a room where nobody loved goes
She sits alone with her silent song
Somebody bring her home

Unplayed piano (unplayed piano)
Still holds a tune
Years pass by
In the changing of the moon

Grandmother and Infant Grandchild

With the howl of the Cyclone wind,
Screams of dying parents,
Trying to save a whimpering infant,
Banished with the wave,
Drifted into the open sea.

With the twist of fate,
Or with a grace of fairy angel,
The grandmother and the infant grandchild,
Were saved, left with no family,
Took shelter at the monastery.

Infant child cried with hunger,
Grandmother with sadness and anger,
Not letting this old lady died instead,
Not being able to replace Mother’s milk,
Lost in this confused web.

The wind had died down.

The water had receded.
Vanished family and home,
The grandmother and the infant child
With no help and Junta left them alone.

This story was too familiar,
Nargis had left us too much to bear.
Burma with affectionate young and old,
Devote and donate were never being told.
Let’s get rid off this Junta as our foes.

Shwe Ngya Maung

Why God, and When?

Why God, and When?

Why God, Why?
The wind and the water
Take the innocent lives.
Break the souls.
Demolish properties and homes.
Why God, why?

Why God, Why us?
The wind and water
Give the Junta a Pass.
The Junta slays unarmed students.
Smash, strip and kick our Reverend monks,
Why God, why Lord?

Why God, Why not THEM?
They jail and kill.
They loot and steal.
They fake and stage.
My Lord, when will the judgment day come?
When God, when?

Why God, why?
Twenty six years before,
Twenty more years now,
Generals are richer, while people are poorer.
Where are you, My Lord?
Waiting for your attention, Our Lord, Merciful Savior.

Shwe Ngya Maung