A Gift of Prophecy
Rising in the mountains of Eastern Tibet
the Mekong flows through the history of China, Burma and Thailand
before bringing its ancient currency to Laos.
With the evening
a mist comes down between the mountains to the river,
like a tide of souls.
To be born on this bright and muddy river
is to be born with the weight of the past at your back.
(events 4 Oct 2013)
Alien Heartbeat 
20 Responses to “A Gift of Prophecy”
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Thanks. And thanks Google for a German-English dictionary.
Hehe. I can relate to that! I’ve had to use Google Translate a few times myself, too.
Lovely post, as always… Thank you.
thanks Jessica.
‘Like a tide of souls’.. What a beautiful and perfect way to describe that part of the world and its river. You capture exactly my sense of it.
thanks. yes my sense is the past never leaves a place like this.
Are you familiar with journalist Jon Swain’s book River of Time? It’s about Cambodia and Vietnam and a harrowing and beautiful read.
Thanks a lot for the recommendation, it sounds good! I’ll get that book.
Dina
I am aware of it but haven’t read it. I find those recounts of bootless suffering (in this case the killing fields) shattering. Doing the Armenian genocide post ( https://alien-heartbeat.com/2013/03/27/under-here-the-bones-of-the-innocent/ ) left me weeping many times in anger and powerlessness and total failure to understand how people can do these things. I felt I owed Armenia that post, but mostly I try to avoid confronting this type of heartless misery.
I just read your post and it’s beautiful and heart-wrenching. Bearing witness is an important part of being human. Thank you for your bravery.
“Bearing witness…”. Have never thought of it that way. Perhaps you are right. Thanks.
Exquisite.
a fine compliment – thanks Elena.
“… to be born with the weight of the past at your back.”
Best pairing I’ve seen so in a long time.
thanks. and its obvious when you look at the picture.
Wonderful shots and lovely presentation!
Dina xx
thanks Dina!
a beautiful place with so much sadness. i hope to visit Laos one day. maybe the year after next. getting myself physically fit first.
yes, a beautiful place. But doesn’t seem so sad. Life sits lightly on the shoulders of the Lao. Really very nicepeople.
i’m sure they are nice. my recent trip to Johor, the people were real nice too except for one trucker who tried to run us down at the traffic junction. that was a scary episode! you take care and remember to eat well 😀