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Myanmar poet Saw Wai has been arrested as of Tuesday, for writing what at first glance seemed to be a standard love poem.  After passing the government censors and being approved for publication it found it’s way into newsstands, but it wasn’t long before the military junta was made aware that the poem was not a simple ode to love as it’s title (February the Fourteenth) and subject matter would suggest- but was in fact a statement against junta leader General Than Shwe.

The poem, it was found, can be read as an acrostic, meaning the first letter or word (word in this case) of each line can be taken to make a separate line.  The exact wording of the poem, and the subversive hidden message has been different in every article I’ve read, (and sadly I’ve been unable to find a full translation of the poem) but it is said to be about a man whose heart is broken over his love for a model, and the acrostic line breaks down to a statement of General Than Shwe being crazy with power.

The ruling military government in Myanmar (also known as Burma) has never hidden it’s practices of ruling with an iron fist, often arresting or killing those who stand against it’s authority.  Last year the world (sort of) watched as Buddhist monks marched in protest of the military junta, calling for democracy.  The people of Myanmar joined the monks and flooded the streets, but as the monks were locked in their temples, and the military struck down the demonstrators, the rebellion ended as quickly as it began.  These were not the first protests that had happened in the country, the junta took control in a coup in 1988 and shortly after Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi organized non-violent protests inspired by the likes of Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi, and in 1990 a democratic election was held in which Aung San Suu Kyi, at the time under house arrest, as she’s been for roughly 12 of the last 18 years, won the office, but the junta declared her ineligible, and remained in power.

I can’t help but be disgusted by most of the world’s apparent blind eye to the attrocities being committed in Myanmar, and especially our own country’s lack of interest- made all the more sad as we (and by “we” I mean the Bush Administration) parade around the Middle East making claims of “spreading democracy” to many countries that don’t even seem to want out idea of “freedom”, while there are citizens dying in the streets, crying out for their freedom from an oppresive rule, and we don’t even blink.

My heart goes out to them, and Saw Wai in particular.  As a poet, I wish I had even a portion of his courage to say something with purpose, no matter the consequence. 

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