Love Poem: Sa Bai Sa Bai
Krysada Phounsiri Avatar
Written by: Krysada Phounsiri

Sa Bai Sa Bai

you ever heard of a Lao party?
might be one going on right now…
we Lao folks love that celebratin’
sifting through sunrise and slipping
through sunset we sing our favorite
songs in our heads
it shortens time at work
cuz we sa baiiii sa baiiii
we force ourselves to
sa bai through the weekdays
so when weekend come
we too sai bai to be sa bai while
Beer Lao gushes down as if a recession
exists in our bellies
and we must stimulate our celebratory economy
this weekend on our little cousin’s birthday
where grandpas and grandmas
get down Salavan style
Lao folks gotta play that music
gives us an excuse to pick up microphones
clap our hands and wave our wrist around
and dance like how our aunties teach us
when the right song come
when the right keys
of the khaen flute lifts our stress out
our sleepless bodies
we always celebrating something
waiting for that weekend
coasting past the jobs we hate
or waiting to grab jobs we don’t have
it don’t matter if our elders can’t speak English
they singing like they own the land
where their voices reach
rejoicing over the smallest
of happenings
and we all sa baiiiii real good