Koh Thmei Resort: Island Holiday Haikus
Koh Thmei (New Island) is definitely one of my favourite places in Cambodia. Whenever we need a break from the chaos of Phnom Penh this is where we go – Koh Thmei is small and quiet (not a party island like Koh Rong and others). It’s the perfect place for reading and writing (I’m hoping to organise a writing retreat here some time in the new year). If you’re living in Phnom Penh, or just travelling and wanting to experience a different, more relaxed side of the country, Koh Thmei is the place to go. For more details see this link to my blog post from 2011, and the Koh Thmei website here.
There’s something about being on an island holiday – particularly at Koh Thmei – that makes me want to write haikus. Below are a few of my favourites written while at Koh Thmei in April and October this year:
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Here there is nothing
Going on, but at the same
Time everything is.
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The water is smooth
Even when it ripples it
Doesn’t really move.
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Beach dog dogs are the
Happiest of all the dogs
And the most sandy.
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Crabs scurry sideways
They can’t do anything else
But scurry and hide.
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At the boat a girl
Says You can’t eat the small fish
Says ‘Dtrey toich ot baan.’
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I wanted to swim
But with the storm coming in
I think I will wait.
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Hammock swaying is
The best kind of swaying that
I ever swayed.
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Lizards everywhere
Like stop-motion video
Dart-stop-dart-stop-dart.
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The ponies come home
At dusk; they know it is time
To file off to bed.
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There are boats on the
Horizon, flares of glowing
Light, fire on the sea.
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Last night toad on the
Sand. Andrew wonders if it
Might be a good trip.
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It’s hard to decide
Which swim will be the last swim
Before you get dressed.
