I’ve never been much for temple
but this paritta is still for you.
may you be held by the smoke of joss paper that sings
you are not ready to be an ancestor yet.
may you be shielded by endless lengths of your mother’s htameins
and not feel ashamed.
may your three fingers unfurl unbroken every morning to infinity.
this paritta is still for you.
𐫱
Listen
emily hue is a 2nd generation Asian American feminist whose family left Burma in the 1970s in the prolonged aftermath of an earlier military coup. She researches and teaches on human rights, performance, and Asian American feminist/queer theory and politics.
About the Poem
“This poem is a diasporic cribbing of a paritta or Theravada Buddhist chant for protection for Burma/ Myanmar’s Civilian Disobedience Movement; especially those disappeared during the most recent February 2021 military coup and whose whereabouts are still unknown.”