Inya Lake

Inya Lake (Kaba Aye Pagoda Road), Yangon
November 2009

For the first 14 years of my life, i lived near Inya Lake
so my attachment to the place isn't something easily dismissed

my earliest memories are of me playing with my parents on its banks
as a young child, i made a regular pilgrimage on saturday mornings across the lake
to see my grandparents who lived about twenty minutes' walk away
from age 5 to 9, I went to a primary school next to the lake
Alas, I am no longer able to visit it since DASSK got under house arrest
for it is just next to her house
(it's where the front wheel of the bicycle is pointing)

somehow, amidst all that business of visiting relatives
and gorging on local food, i managed to snatch an hour on its banks

to me, it's a place where people spend leisurely hours
.. walking, eating, boating, dating..

Once, this side of the bank was rather shady once the sun set
but it's been cleaned up

i'd gone there in the hope of catching the huge scarlet sun which i'd seen the day before
but it wasn't meant to be
time.. doesn't wait

(an old photo of) a toddler playing with her father at Inya Lake

and then, the sun set .. at 10 minutes to 6