Sabaydii my fellow Satjadham,

	I happen to be in the mood to write a free verse for a change
today. Maybe, in the silence of the night, your heart might ask you in the
familiar fashion too.

*****
	Where is your heart?

One heart, one mind 
we stand.
One heart, different minds
we are torn.
Hundreds of years,
we live as a people
proud to be called Lao
arrogant to under the independent Lan Xang.
Now, nothing but a faint memory is left.

Too sad if I may say,
we don't know who we are.
Too pitiful if I may add,
we don't realize how great we once were.
And too pathetic if I may conclude,
we don't have a slight idea
what stake we have to play.

In the abyss of conscience,
our heart tells us
we are of a Lao ancestry
we embody the Lao national ethos
and we will live and die for the Lao interest.

"Don't listen to those foolish ideas"
Our different minds tell us.
We are here for ourselves.
We sweat for our own families
and we live just for our kids.
Who cares if the Lao kids in the countryside
have no future?
Who worries if our Lao culture is being siamized?
And who concerns if Laos is ridiculed at?

I ask myself:
what is the use of accumulating knowledge
if one can't help one's poor folks
who need help the most?
what is the benefit of living in the developed country
if one doesn't use what we gain for one's underdeveloped country?
and what is the advantage of pondering about Lao issues
if one doesn't share in the joy and sorrow of one's own people?

I don't know
I am torn myself.
You and I might be materially well off.
You and I might be highly educated.
And you and I might be blessed with the technical know-how
but are these enough to be a complete human being?

Maybe, this is the fate of Quon Lao
past, present, and future.
Then how can 
one heart, different minds stand?

Hundreds of years,
we live as a people
proud to be called Lao
arrogant to be under the indepedent Lan Xang.
Now, nothing but a faint memory is left.
Where do I stand?
Where do we stand?

*****
Hak phaang,
Kongkeo Saycocie