If you read my last post on Chopsticks Only Work in Pairs, please enjoy this traditional Lahu love poem from a husband to his pregnant wife. I'm going to have Sevak read it to me tonight ;)
When you carry a burden inside of you / I am responsible for that burden
When we weed the field / you only need to weed
Three handfuls of grasses at the top of the field,
Three handfuls of grasses at the end of the field,
Three handfuls of grasses at the left side of the field,
Three handfuls of grasses at the right side of the field.
You may take a rest afterwards / I will finish weeding the rest.
After the weeding is finished all the credit will be yours
Because you have weeded the field / at the top and the end
At the front and the rear / At the left and the right.
What I have done is just patching the details in the middle...
At harvest time / you only need to carry the sickle,
I will carry the threshing stick and three pieces of mat,
The mat I have spent three days weaving from bamboo strips.
You harvest at the top and the end of the field / The left and the right of the field,
You will harvest with such little effort / As if you were merely counting the rows.
On our way home / You only need to carry the light pig food.
I will carry the grain on my back,
I will hold the gourd-and-pipe [a musical instrument] in my hands,
I will play the music while carrying home the grain
Here's the wife's corresponding poem:
I will carry the child within me for ten months / Within these ten months
I will carry the child up to the mountains / Five months and ninety-nine times,
I will carry the child down to the rivers / Five months and seventy-seven times.
But I will not blame you for the arduous task,
The task to carry the child even before its birth.
Although my body will be heavy,
I will be with you all the time / I will not separate from you in our work
Sigh...
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