Douangdeuane - a moon that shines
Sabaydii,

Here is the continuation of a series ‘Coming home’ entitled ‘Douangdeuane – a moon that shines’

Hakphaang,
Kongkeo Saycocie

Douangdeuane – a moon that shines

Getting the phone from Euay Dara
I called Euay Douangdeuane
Her sister
Setting a time to meet
I took off to her place
Half way to Wattay airport

As it turned out to be
Her place
Once occupied by her beloved dad
Maha Sila Viravong himself

I myself never been to the place
But heard a lot about it
A SamLo driver thought
He knew where it was
So we went together

Once there
Making sure
I wasn’t stranded
He kindly waited outside the gate
While I checked out the place

A young woman came to the door
Knowing who I was
She invited me in

Looking back at the gate
The SamLo driver raised a thumb up
And took off
To where he came from

Everywhere in Muang Lao
If you look hard enough
You will still find nice people
Ready to embrace you
With all Lao hospitality
The Lao of old was known of

Was told
Once inside
Euay Douangdeuane would be back soon
After bringing in a glass of water
The woman left

While waiting
I looked around the spacious living room
Decorating with all the rare and precious Lao antiques
Among them was the old elephant horn

Then prominently displayed at the center wall
Were the pictures of her late dad
Both in younger and later years

At the end of the room
B the dining table
Stood a bookshelf case
Lining up with many kinds of books
Mostly in Lao
A rare sight indeed

Enthralled and fascinated by what I saw
I didn’t even notice
When Euay Douangdeuane
Stood in front of me

A little awkward
Being caught with a wide eye
I told her
How much I admired the works of her dad
Being in his house
Among his dear possessions
Gave me an incredible feeling
Of a rendezvous with all the Lao great

Euay Douangdeuane
Always gracious
Unlike her big sister
She hardly knew me
Maybe at one time or another we met
That was a long long time ago

Still
She kindly showed me
All her dad’s manuscripts
And proudly related his life story

When we parted
She even gave me
Many invaluable copies
Of her dad’s works
And the old issues
Of PhaiNam
She highly treasured

As I came to know
PaiNam was where she started
As a writer
And came to make a name for herself
DokKed

And it was through this magazine
She came to meet Ai Outhine
Her spouse for life
Giving her two beautiful daughters

On the way to the hotel
Kindly dropped off by a young man
Raised in her family
With his scooter

My heart reminded me
I would be back
To visit her about-to-finish library
devoted to her dad
at Nam Ngum

That was at least I could do
for the man
and his family
done so much for
this uncared-for Muang Lao of thee

9.4.03