The Red Sangha (from "The Island")

 
He was a monk in Yangon  
near the Insein prison  
he tended the geese that  
chased us down the road  
he liked to stand at  
the gates of the pagoda  
smoking a cigarette  
tattoos on his left arm  
he joined the Saffron Revolution  
where he was killed  
I saw his bloodless body, heard  
the echo of gunfire  
the rattle of beads on  
the pavement  
the voice of the General, but  
these days  
I divorce my husband and  
abandon my children  
I forget  
my aged father  
I let my friends  
take me  
to the borders of the old country  
where I shed my longyi and  
my tears for the robes  
of the red sangha  
here  
there is no cause for revolution  
no one will disturb my mourning  
of the monk  
I don't have to wait  
for the sunrise that will  
never come  
I have a cup of tea  
that will never empty  
because of the feast, the Ahlu,  
because of the water  
libation you gave for me  
but I will return  
and keep returning until  
the misery of the world  
has gone