Koeut Vorn Of Phnom Penh! All My Salutations To Thee! Poem by Ravi Panamanna

The following verses have a reference to a paper report which had appeared sometimes in 1994. It was a detailed report on Koeut Vorn of Phnom Penh. He was a locomotive piolet who steered his train from Phnom Penh to Battambang, risking his life along the most hazardous route where Pol Pot's men were always at work with their loaded guns and bombs. I felt very much for this man and eventually, this poem was born. Date of the composition is 10th April 1994.


Koeut Vorn of Phnom Penh!
All my salutations to thee!
Between Phnom Penh and Battambang
Thou risk thy life as a locomotive piolet.

Your train is old,
The engine even older,
The brakes are improper -
It won't listen to distances.
With a metallic rattle, your train runs,
It is telling the tale of eons and beyond!

This is not the whole story -
Beware! along the railroad await those people,
Pol Pot's men, the notorious guerrillas.
Mines can explode,
A sudden attack can happen,
And you may eventually perish
unknown and unsung on the Cambodian plains.

Mind you, it had always happened,
Passengers had lost their lives.
Set your eyes! Pol Pot's men are at work
With loaded guns, round the clock.

Koeut Vorn of Phnom Penh!
All my salutations to thee!
Death follows you as a shadow,
Your life is more or less exact.

You know about it but accept the same,
Beyond seasons you are risking your life.
What else is left in your sweat
Other than this job of FF 160 a month?

Pochenrong, Tuol Leap, Bat Dieng and, Tbeng Khops-
And beyond these dangerous zones
Your train, at last, reaches Battambang.
Koeut Vorn! you are for a brief period set free!

Friend, you are now safe and enjoy peace!
Presently you dissolve in the city lights.
A day's precarious travel is over,
But Pol Pot is nevertheless on the hunt.

At twenty past six tomorrow morning,
Thou will board the Phnom Penh bound train.
It might be thy final trip,
But, thou prefer not to think about it tonight.

Koeut Vorn of Phnom Penh!
All my salutations to thee!
Between Phnom Penh and Battambang
You spread your wings, piolet your train
And carry out a mission too belligerent
For my verses and simple imagination!

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