Endless notes on War

The Maw Naing
Translated by Thett Su San & Ko Ko Thett

1 

I bought a Burmese translation of War and Peace by Mya Than Tint, the 1992 edition, second-hand, that came in two volumes, for 500 kyat. How much did I spend on War? How much on Peace? Did War and Peace cost 250 each? Did I spend at least 450 on Peace? I would spend 500 on Peace alone, not a single pyar on War. What happened when War and Peace were bound together in Myanmar? Civil War? For fifty? Fifty years? Civil War for fifty odd years? Maayeloe [မအေလိုးတွေ]! The War Government declared,No more war!’ 22 March, 2011. Bollocks! Why is War still sitting on the President’s head today 17 May, 2012. I despise War. In fact I despise everything that spells out WAR, exactly in the order. I suspect I would drink a single drop of water if water were spelled warter. There is no guarantee that War is over. Why would you wear War uniform? Try Love. The Climate of War  equals the Climate of Love? Serve Love for War. Love Games for War Games. Cease War now! End it for good! Love deserter, love march, love bugle and love reinforcements for war deserter, war march, war bugle and war reinforcements. The fifty-year-long-cease-peace will return after going through a qualification check. Thursday, 15 March, 2012. Time: 14:31.

 2

Every War has a name. Yet some owners want to register their luxury War under different names. A large exhibition about the Myanmar War was shown at the Armed Forces ‘Tatmadaw’ Hall in Yangon. The show lasted from 18 May 2012 to 21 May, 2012. Here’s an advertisement for those who wish to own War insurance. Do you know any good way to ward yourself off from the vagaries of War? Just in case you get a sudden twist of War Suffering, your War Wellbeing is guaranteed. Free service available all through War, to all War Operations to meet your expectations. Dear customers, kindly note that a high quality War could only be measured by a high War value. We do have a service for replacing old War with new ones, from any manufacturers of War supplies, for any models. A special deal for installing War barriers and custom-made floral War gates, and for War-proof cells. Call us at +95 973199257 or +95 973080524. War comes with a six-month warranty. Just give us a call if you need a door-to-door repair service. War costs 70,000,000 kyat. We don’t manufacture poor-quality War which are not suitable for long-term use. We only make superb War with extended warranty. You will get the best service you paid for. A new season has been added to the existing seasons of Myanmar – Summer, Monsoon, Winter and War! To chill in the hot weather, just pick War. A special price with a free repair service, and a free safeguard. War unit owners must:

1)     Extend their registration before the expiry date.

2)     Pay the service fee if the application is three months overdue after the expiry date.

3)     Note that all War will have expired on 30 May, 2012. Be kindly informed that you must extend the duration of service for War before the expiry date. [undated]

 3 

Out of nowhere, bullets and bombs land on a huddle of twenty houses in the village. Like falling leaves in moonlight, humans take a fall one after another. Why hasn’t your own mother fallen? May the bullets and bombs hit your mother’s house and take her life instead, you Maayeloe [မအေလိုးတွေ]! Laita, Hansi, Mai Jayan, Lweje, Dawhpumyan, Waingmaw and Man Win Gyi. The Big Lock. I have been watching too much telly. Kids swim in a creek, in the emerald water. The surrounding area is green and beautiful. To relieve the tiredness from running, they soak in cold water. They think they will get home in time to harvest rice. They will have to harvest bullets. Bullet fruits are fruitier than I expected. Bomb flowers bloom with large petals. My family has harvested them, and they are all in heaven, having an eternal break. We may reap what we sow, but we don’t remember if we ever planted bullet and bomb seeds. The yellow gas made us black out. We also had to reap chemical warfare, the Lord’s extra gifts for us. Orphans play with plastic and wooden toy guns. Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat, rat-tat-tat, they shout pointing their machine guns at each other. They say, I got you! You got me! You’re out! I’m out! War is never out of the game. War gets entangled in War. The fifty-year-old Civil War is quite senile but it’s still in good kilter. You are not connected to the internet. The page cannot be displayed. War is outside the communication zone. Gentlemen, wait for five seconds. [undated]

 4

When I say, the North, I mean the northern part of my country. I’m not talking about the place  where a nasty monkey terrorised the whole world. Our War is civil. Our doctrine — follow order, fight in War. Does Civil War have to undergo a gender affirmation surgery? Does anyone even need Civil War? A transition was only necessary. There’s no Civil War in developed countries of the well-off and well-educated. Over there no one bothers to mention the front-page War headlines at the dinner table. Anyone who has turned eighteen can purchase the currency of War at money changers. ‘The brave never dies. If they die, they are dead.’ This is the slogan of Civil War. Conflicts can be multiplied, but Civil War cannot be duplicated. I play a fifteen-year-old girl, who finds out that she’s pregnant with Civil War. War wears an elegant gown and makeup. War keeps eight things—glasses, contact lens, earphones, perfume, phone, two-layered cake, lipstick, and iPad. War holds a thick rope and masks its face with a black lace. When War longed for its roots, it took a boat trip to see them. War wears a miniskirt and flaunts her desirable legs. There are only three stages in waging War. War has its own fan club. Let’s see what makes it to the top ten, the Kachin War of the North, the fifty-year-old Civil War elsewhere, the internally displaced people dying from lack of food and family, the protracted War that began when the belligerents began to blame each other for the opening shot, the War that was supposed to begin on Wednesday and end by Friday. [undated]

 5

The interesting programmes of Myanmar Radio from Naypyidaw, 18.5.2012 Friday at 10:20, 19.5.2012 Saturday at 10:40, 20.5.2012 Sunday at 11:10 and at 19:40. We don’t have any interesting news for you, said a filtered War. Was War a War before it was won? Was it just cultivating its own crops back then? Was it washing itself until it became white like bandages? One early morning, someone bangs on the door at the House of War. War shouts half-asleep, ‘Sorry, I have no change to spare.’ War works seven days a week, thirty days a month, three hundred and sixty five days a year.

 

War works sixteen hours a day including daily commuting time. No one wins in a War. All lost and hurt. War is most affected by War. And yet War wants to celebrate his birthday. Buses and trains are packed. Some vehicles run on petrol or diesel. Thousands of people come on foot. The square is full of people, seventy-two thousand in total. A huge crowd at the opposite stand. War is ready for warfare, gathering in the middle, armed with all sorts of weapons. People predict which War would become good soldiers, which would be cunning strategists. The battle of War against War. The following announcement was made on 10 October. The over-fifty year-old Civil War is awarded the Nobel Prize for War. For War that has to be submitted by 1 January 2013, they are making preparations. No discussion as to the need to reduce the price of War. They will open new showrooms. They will import new War. ‘Children were at schools when War broke out.’ The shooting started around 9am and stopped around 10am. Parents collected their children after the shooting ceased. Schools were closed provisionally. [undated]

6

8888 [8 August, 1988] to topple the Tyranny of War. War! Authentic War! True War! There were attempts to restore Peace — 10 December 2011. A night of medical checkup [ဆေးစစ်ခံရတဲ့ည] = a night of interrogation [စစ်ဆေးခံရတဲ့ည] . Do you remember that night? It wasn’t ‘Love Dukkha’, according to U Ba Nyunt. Do you know what real War Dukkha is like? The door was kicked open.

The padlock was left dangling on the latch. The factory produces War for export. It doesn’t make weapons. It makes War, the most marketable commodity. They assemble War in a dim light through the night. Dust and cigarette smoke in the air. The Northern War was a standard product of that factory. Humans don’t give birth to humans. They bring forth War. In the first week after birth, War is vaccinated and medicated, to double up the number of War. They build War to meet the exacting standards of the Constitution. War, made by men, women, gays and lesbians. The factory has been in business for over half a century. Its main product is Civil War. The fifty-year-old brand remains popular and traded nationwide. In the world era, we fended off World Wars. In the global era, we have to prevent a Global War. War of Death. We’ll take care of War, they said. They gave war a dose of syrup. War is now in dotage and disheartened, its desire to see the world has dried up. War of Roses lasted as long as War was the continuation of political intercourse. A myriad of long-lasting lusty War. All quiet on the western front. Two or three dogs continued to push on. War has fled from War. Dukkha with a child on her hip said, ‘Someday we will meet again. Happily!’ Truth meets its end first in the meantime… [undated]

The Maw Naing was born in 1971 in Myanmar where he lives and works. He is a poet, artist and filmmaker. He studied art in Yangon and filmmaking at FAMU Prague. He published six poem books, did seven solo, several group art exhibitions and made five short, three feature films. He participated at the Berlin Poetry. His poetry film won awards, one screened at Guggenheim NY and another one is collected at the Fukuoka Museum. His features has won several awards and has been screened over 95 times at international film festivals including CPH:DOX, IDFA, IFFR, Busan, Locarno and  KarlovyVary.