Ame~rican skies~ are so bright~ though cloudy(1),
And what~ a pity(1)~ is to see~ Khmer mountains(2),
It's stark~ different~ to comment~ on mountains(2),
They look~ like coffins(2)~ with corpses~ inside them(3).
These days~ we can say~ of defor~estation(4),
And like~ depletion(4)~ of gold ores~ and the gem(3),
As if~ like being~ transfused by~ the venom(3),
And like~ the mayhem(3)~ of the State~ and people(5).
O, lo~ and behold,~ the nation's~ resources(6) !
Nature~ finishes(6)~ its real shape~ like bubble(5),
That's why~ Henri Cam~ feels pity~ for people(5),
Who live~ like in Hell(5),~ apart from~ the Khmer Rouge(7),
Pity!~ Khmer mountains~ cannot win~ their life back(8),
Just cry~ and attack(8)~ ruleless laws~ and abuse.(7),
Or else~ all the mounts~ would be found~ of no use.(7).
Coffins~ in stained hues(7)~ do look like~ the deserts.
This poem is written using the Khmer eleven-syllable foot style: 2 - 3 - 3 - 3 that reads beautifully with good rhythms and rhymes. In this Khmer style, a sentence has four (4) lines (the general rule for Khmer poetry writing, although there are some different cases). Each sentence is grouped into four (4) clusters of sounds (or syllables) “2 – 3 – 3 – 3”. As in other languages, practically, there is difficulty in finding the exact rhymes.
e.g. Ame(2) -rican skies(3) –are so bright(3) –though cloudy(3) ...
To make them easy for you to notice, I mark them in colours and numbers (and underlined) to show they rhyme among them for the sounds with the same marks (colours, numbers, and/or underlined.)
e.g. The last syllable “cloudy(1)”(the ending of line 1) rhymes with the 5th syllable “pity(1)”of line 2, and
the last syllable “mountains(2)” (endings of line 2) rhymes with the ending “mountains(2)”of line 3, both of them rhyme with syllable 5 “coffins(2)”of the line 4, and these rules apply for all the other sentences.Another character to notice is that the last syllable of the foregoing sentence rhymes with the last syllable of line 2 and 3 and the 5th syllable of line 4 (the last line) of the next sentence,
e.g. them(3) ending of the last line of the previous sentence, gem(3) ending of line 2, venom(3) ending of line 3 and mayhem(3) the syllable of last line (or line 4) etc.
To make your poems more beautiful, a good experienced poetry composer writes the kind of similar rhymes between syllables of the same line:
e.g. It's stark~ different~ to comment~ on mountains(2): the rhymes of “-ent” in different and comment
© rbu_spp June 23, 2014 Puthpong Sao
Photo: American Sky, Khmer Mountain, Books and Artwork by Chath pierSath. He is an American Khmer-born writer, poet and artist working at a State University in the States.
It's stark~ different~ to comment~ on mountains(2),
They look~ like coffins(2)~ with corpses~ inside them(3).
These days~ we can say~ of defor~estation(4),
And like~ depletion(4)~ of gold ores~ and the gem(3),
As if~ like being~ transfused by~ the venom(3),
And like~ the mayhem(3)~ of the State~ and people(5).
O, lo~ and behold,~ the nation's~ resources(6) !
Nature~ finishes(6)~ its real shape~ like bubble(5),
That's why~ Henri Cam~ feels pity~ for people(5),
Who live~ like in Hell(5),~ apart from~ the Khmer Rouge(7),
Pity!~ Khmer mountains~ cannot win~ their life back(8),
Just cry~ and attack(8)~ ruleless laws~ and abuse.(7),
Or else~ all the mounts~ would be found~ of no use.(7).
Coffins~ in stained hues(7)~ do look like~ the deserts.
This poem is written using the Khmer eleven-syllable foot style: 2 - 3 - 3 - 3 that reads beautifully with good rhythms and rhymes. In this Khmer style, a sentence has four (4) lines (the general rule for Khmer poetry writing, although there are some different cases). Each sentence is grouped into four (4) clusters of sounds (or syllables) “2 – 3 – 3 – 3”. As in other languages, practically, there is difficulty in finding the exact rhymes.
e.g. Ame(2) -rican skies(3) –are so bright(3) –though cloudy(3) ...
To make them easy for you to notice, I mark them in colours and numbers (and underlined) to show they rhyme among them for the sounds with the same marks (colours, numbers, and/or underlined.)
e.g. The last syllable “cloudy(1)”(the ending of line 1) rhymes with the 5th syllable “pity(1)”of line 2, and
the last syllable “mountains(2)” (endings of line 2) rhymes with the ending “mountains(2)”of line 3, both of them rhyme with syllable 5 “coffins(2)”of the line 4, and these rules apply for all the other sentences.Another character to notice is that the last syllable of the foregoing sentence rhymes with the last syllable of line 2 and 3 and the 5th syllable of line 4 (the last line) of the next sentence,
e.g. them(3) ending of the last line of the previous sentence, gem(3) ending of line 2, venom(3) ending of line 3 and mayhem(3) the syllable of last line (or line 4) etc.
To make your poems more beautiful, a good experienced poetry composer writes the kind of similar rhymes between syllables of the same line:
e.g. It's stark~ different~ to comment~ on mountains(2): the rhymes of “-ent” in different and comment
© rbu_spp June 23, 2014 Puthpong Sao
Photo: American Sky, Khmer Mountain, Books and Artwork by Chath pierSath. He is an American Khmer-born writer, poet and artist working at a State University in the States.
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