YOU , CAMBODIA ! MY MOTHER LAND

S K Monoha as a young man.

By S K MONOHA OF Cambodia

You, beloved Cambodia, lets my glance kiss you
You, the ground of my thousand-year-old culture, the perfumes of your nudity me enivrer leaves.
You, the goddess leaves to my arms you éteintre your beautiful Apsara
You, my love, lets my heart adore you, my Khémara mother.

Oh! Temple of Angkor, how much time I saw you thus,
So radiant and serene, very fairy-like Bayon.
You, the Khmer city, vêtue in the sky of an emerald sarong
The wind makes shiver your rice plantations, when frail the zéphur grinds.

You, the river of Mekong, how much time I saw you thus,
Thousands fish to be born and nourish your people without concern.
Like each evening, I sleep with the very beautiful music of trô
In the remote sky, étreint the horizon, when the evening calls you.

In my sleep, how much time I awoke,
In a small bed, in this foreign distance.
My dream shovel-mixes, sad when the dream disappears,
Merry and merry when, the hope sings its melody.

You, the river of “Sangker”, hears in my heart, to run this brook
Carrying my silent dreams with the liking of its water.
And scorning the attractions of its charm,
Listen to it, the brook of my tears.

You are the lords of Cambodia, awake you, all is not finished.
For one decade, the war has destroyed your people and their life.
Today, still, by corruption, people suffers and fails,
Offer to Khmer people, peace, freedom, prosperity and the true democracy.
Sacrifice my life and my body clings to you Cambodia, my mother land.