Dec 3
In the Himalayan mountains,
bordered by the Chindwin River,
bordered by the humid jungle,
sweaty, musky, monsoon scented,
East of hot and sultry plainlands
climbs a cooler verdant forest
to a green and vibrant woodland,
filled with mossy bamboo thickets,
filled with silent trees that listen
to the Naga log drum beating;
shrill cicadas’ night-time trilling;
waking hornbills, evü, goking;
and the flashing fireflys mating
like a white-hot viper chilli
spreads it’s burning incandescence.
There, amongst the hilltribe people
is my centre, is my focus,
separated by a journey,
many days by air and roadway,
but my most important person
from that place so far, so distant,
lives and loves with me forever,
in my home, my hearth, my heartland.
bordered by the Chindwin River,
bordered by the humid jungle,
sweaty, musky, monsoon scented,
East of hot and sultry plainlands
climbs a cooler verdant forest
to a green and vibrant woodland,
filled with mossy bamboo thickets,
filled with silent trees that listen
to the Naga log drum beating;
shrill cicadas’ night-time trilling;
waking hornbills, evü, goking;
and the flashing fireflys mating
like a white-hot viper chilli
spreads it’s burning incandescence.
There, amongst the hilltribe people
is my centre, is my focus,
separated by a journey,
many days by air and roadway,
but my most important person
from that place so far, so distant,
lives and loves with me forever,
in my home, my hearth, my heartland.
1. Nagas are a tribal people who live in hills of Nagaland, and parts of Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh (North East India) and Myanmar.
2. Log-drums are a traditional Naga instrument and an important part on Naga culture.
3. Evü is a hornbill in the Khezha language (of my wife’s tribe). It has an ev-ur sound but the final ur is in the front of the mouth
4. The Naga viper chilli was the world’s hottest chilli (Guiness book of records 2011 but now surpassed)
2. Log-drums are a traditional Naga instrument and an important part on Naga culture.
3. Evü is a hornbill in the Khezha language (of my wife’s tribe). It has an ev-ur sound but the final ur is in the front of the mouth
4. The Naga viper chilli was the world’s hottest chilli (Guiness book of records 2011 but now surpassed)
