A Poem Written In Angkor Wat

Siem Reap,Cambodia
March 12,2009


Dearest June,

I just came from Angkor Wat again, by bicycle.

I rented a bicycle from Soria Hotel for US$2, for 24 hours, with a returnable deposit of US$20. I have been using the bike since yesterday afternoon, and I used it to go back to Angkor Wat this morning.. Just 15 minutes by bike from our guesthouse. We met two tourists(Suen and Wai) from Shatin, Kowloon,HK yesterday at Angkor Wat, talked to them for a few minutes, and learned how to travel around by using a bicycle. They are friendly. I told them that I was selling my books in Hong Kong for almost ten years,. (www.geocities.com/rareasianbooks)


To Angkor Wat by bicycle from the area where we stayed before is a nice bike ride. Maybe we can try this next time we are here. The two of us travelling in Angkor by bicycle, travelling the road in freedom, not in fear. This whole country was once a wide Killing Fields. Now, I can see hope. I can see smiles from children we met.

Yesterday, I wrote a poem for you while resting in front of the tallest tower at Angkor Wat. Do you still remember that I climbed that tower? That spot. I'm sending this poem to you, hoping you like it.

PS. You are free to do whatever you want with the treehouse.



At Angkor Wat
(Verses for June)

Beside
these pillars of ancient history,
gingerly hewn out of rocks
my lonely heart beats
for you...

As my body rests
against a wall,
and my weary eyes
behold an endless blue sky,
I think of home,
I think of you....

2.

This temple, a castle
of hewn rock
which has gone through blood
and fire,
can testify that where I sit
on wooden stairs,
against this wall of rock
which through ages
has proudly stood
through war and peace,
and still it stands,
I think of home,
I think of you....

3.

The grass is brown and fading,
but some strange wild grass
still have flowers in bloom
even against
the raging sun.
And as they bloom,
I think of home,
I think of you....

I'll pick one of them
and press it in my book.
The lowly grass is brown
and fading,
and yet some flowers remain abloom
against the summer sky,
as I think of home,
and think of you....

At Angkor Wat,
the flowers fade like the lowly grass.
Even this great temple
which has survived
almost a thousand years
will also crumble...

But here ,today,
at Angkor Wat,
where brown grass lay
through time and space,
the flowers which
are still abloom in heaven's grace,
will testify that
my lonely heart
beats just for you...

Norbert L. Mercado
The Lost Poet in Angkor Wat
March 12,2009
10:05 A.M.