Inle Lake - II

Clair Chilvers

Houses built on stilts in the water
some corrugated iron,
others bamboo and palm leaves
precariously leaning.
Each house an island to itself
a boat tied to the stilts
satellite dishes anachronistic in this waterscape.
Floating gardens planted in neat rows
anchored to the lake floor by bamboo poles,
tomatoes, shallots, garlic for the market.
The men fish with conical nets
fish traps marked with bamboo poles.
Silence broken only by the engines
of the long-tailed boats.

Try some more poems about Myanmar in the Poetry Atlas.


Main Location:

Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Traditional stilt house on Inle Lake in Burma

Photo by Clair Chilvers